While the United Kingdom is on the brink of a gambling crisis precipitated by British Chancellor of the Exchequer Phillip Hammond, Albania has taken an even more hostile approach to its own gambling and sports betting industry.
Albania Passes Anti-Gambling, Anti-Betting Law
Earlier in the week, Albania passed a law in Parliament effectively banning all sports betting and gambling activities as early as the beginning of 2019. The measures come after a long debate whether the activities to be confined to the outskirts of towns and cities or shut down completely.
The measures taking effect into 2019 will hit businesses which will either seek a way around the legislation to continue operate or will instead start selling up and closing jobs, which is another gamble with employment in Albania.
However, the law passed into Parliament with 75 votes, giving it a solid backing with the bulk of that coming from Prime Minister Edi Rama’s own Socialist Party. The law will affect a number of facilities, including sports betting agencies, slot machine parlours and a variety of other activities.
Gambling aficionados will still be able to place a bingo bet or participate in the national lottery and casinos will be very much alive in large-scale hotel properties. However, this will significantly shrink the ability of the average Albanian citizen to gamble.
While the move may appear extreme in its nature, Albania has a point. The industry has expanded by €700 million in terms of annual revenue and there have long been concerns that match-fixing may become an ever-present danger.
These concerns were not entirely off the mark, with low-income families being cited as one of the most at risk groups.
Gambling as a Conduit of Criminal Activities
Beyond the obvious dangerous that lurk for low-income groups, there are other cited qualms. Mr. Rama has said that there was evidence to suggest that the operators of casino dens are also linked to organized crime.
They might keep changing sites, and we’ll keep shutting them down. – Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama
In addition, Mr. Rama is prepared to take on any online gambling operator which attempts to skirt the regulations and continue to offer iGaming products of any sort to people in the country.
While Mr. Rama clearly has a point, sports betting shop owners have said that they will contest the ban in court and seek compensation. Many of the operators with a proper track record in the country had tried to assuage Mr. Rama’s tempers by shutting down half of their properties and also limiting the scope of their advertisement, but this seems to have been for naught.
While the ban in Albania looms, the United Kingdom are going through an ordeal of their own. On Monday, October 29, the Budget meeting will take place and gambling operators are finally expected to find out if the tax on iGaming products will go up from the present 15% to the rumoured 25%.
This will be done to plug a hole left in the deficit after the decision of a government’s special commission to bring down the maximum bet on Fixed-Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs) down to £2 from £100 previously.
