Cyprus Officially Banning Online Gambling

The House of Representatives of Cyprus officially passed the legislation that prohibits any online casino games and exchange betting within its boundaries. This indirectly bans any online casino and online gambling to take place in Cyprus, what can online casinos possibly be without the games.

The only type of betting that is regulated is sports betting on which the government imposed a 10% tax on all of the operators.

Taxation

The approval of the bill inaugurated a new Gambling Board which will be receiving all of the taxes and send them to the Cyprus Sports Federation. They will be receiving 3% of all the revenues that were made via taxes. Once it arrives at the CSF, they will be giving 1.5% of the total to the Cyprus Football Association. Another 0.5% will be going to other sports association in Cyprus. Whatever is left of all this will be going to foundations and programs that address helping players with gambling problems. All of this was contained in the bill and was passed by the House of Representative Legal Affairs Committee.

Upcoming Bans

Once the legislation has passed, Yiannakis Omirou, the House of Representatives Speaker of the centre-left Movement For Social Democracy political party called out that the government should now seek to ban online sports betting. His exact description was that it is a “cancer” for society. This was first brought up last year but failed to make it far due to the struggle the lawmakers were encountering working out the final details.

Another delay was caused by the coalition government of the left-wing Progressive Party of Working People and the centrist Democratic Party. The nation is now keeping high hopes that this legislation will help regulate online games and help them make money before the end of the year.

Betfair Not Too Pleased With The Legislation

The world renowned betting exchange operators known as Betfair will be defying the new law established in Cyprus. Betfair states that there are multiple flaws and that some of them are inconsistent with the European Union law. Here is a direct statement made by Betfair: “Betfair is working with advisors to understand the potential implications on its business and will be taking all necessary steps to reduce the impact on profitability through both legal action and cost management.” Last year, the Cypriot online gambling market grossed 4% of Betfair’s total revenues which represents about $14.5 million.