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William Hill has thrown down the gauntlet to another European gaming monopoly. This time, the betting giant is tackling Greece, whose betting is run by OPAP, a company that last month arrested nine people for placing bets in internet cafes with overseas providers. William Hill has requested a licence to open betting shops in Greece, but fully expects this to be turned down.
In this eventuality, William Hill plans to take its case to the European Court, in order to challenge OPAP’s monopoly. William Hill Chief Executive David Harding said: "We believe the recent European cases mean that what is happening is in breach of EU law. If it is rejected we will go to the courts to argue our case and that could involve going to the European Court of Justice." This follows the March ECJ ruling on the Placanica case, which banned Italy from using criminal law to keep out foreign bookmakers in a case brought by Stanley Leisure. Gaming companies have been encouraged by the ruling to take on other monopolies in a bid to access markets, prompting countries such as Spain and Italy to take steps to open their markets. Germany is also reviewing its gaming laws although legal action has been launched against the Austrian online betting company Bwin to stop it taking bets. “The only company with the right to operate betting in Greece is OPAP,” the firm’s president, Sotiris Kostakos, told Greek newspapers, following the arrests of the nine gamblers last month. “Some people are getting rich unlawfully while the Greek state haemorrhages,” he added. According to OPAP, the illegal betting market in Greece is equal in value to the state-monopoly, of roughly Euro1.4 billion.
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