Ladbrokes and Betfair React to ECJ Advisor Opinion

An opinion issued by Yves Bot, senior legal advisor of the European Court of Justice, has received reactions from both Ladbrokes and Betfair who have pending cases with the court against European state gambling monopolies.

Bot said in his opinion statement that countries were entitled to use monopolies to protect citizens against problem gambling.

While Bot's opinion is non binding, it will nevertheless influence the outcome of the lawsuits brought against the Netherlands by Betfair and Ladbrokes over what they consider unfair monopolies.

Commenting on the opinion, the Managing Director of Ladbrokes, John O'Reilly said: "There is no logic in the fact that the Dutch monopoly could freely compete against us in the UK, but we are prevented from accepting bets from any Dutch resident that finds us on the internet."

A spokesman for Betfair said: "Dutch consumers should have the right to access Betfair's English language web site."

One part of the opinion that was welcomed by the gambling operators was the fact that Bot accepted the argument that sports betting licenses should be allocated in a transparent manner and said that "when granting to a private operator the exclusive right to operate a form of gambling under a licensing procedure or as part of the renewal of that license,  the authorities must put out an adequate call for tenders."

Betfair welcomed the opinion of the Advocate General on this point. "We believe that this will have fundamental consequences for the licensing of operators throughout Europe," said Betfair MD, Mark Davies. "We hope that the Court will confirm this in its ruling next year and also address the issue of the right of Dutch consumers to access our website in the Netherlands."