Closure of Dragonara Casino Sports Lounge

I refer to the letters of both Julian Borg and Stephen Rizzo recently published in The Times.

Dragonara Casino Ltd opened an on-line sports lounge from Stan James UK, the well-known bookmaker. This was in compliance with any existing legislation and with the full knowledge and approval of the Lotteries and Gaming Authority (LGA).

After some six weeks of successful operation, the LGA informed Dragonara Casino Ltd that the Sports Lounge had to close. The reason given was that the agreement and licence that Maltco, the operators of Super 5, were given by the government gave exclusivity to Maltco to operate sports betting in Malta.

Since this time, Dragonara Casino Ltd have been unable to obtain a copy of this agreement or even a copy of the licence and conditions, this notwithstanding the licence being given following an open request for proposals. Dragonara Casino finds itself in the position of being unable to challenge the ruling as we are being denied the opportunity to see the document on which it is based.

In addition, the government has erroneously accepted that Dragonara Casino Ltd was operating a sportsbook when in fact DCL was merely facilitating the opportunity to bet on-line with Stan James Ltd. No odds are made in Malta and no decisions are made in Malta, they are all made by Stan James Ltd offshore. This can never infringe any right of exclusivity that Maltco may have in Malta.

Finally, Malta is currently in dispute with several EU countries over a similar issue in connection with the online betting companies that have set up shop here. A number of EU countries are objecting to this type of activity but Malta is actively defending the local internet betting business. Given this stand, one cannot understand how the local authorities can then justify their decision not to allow Stan James Sports Book facility.