MALTA AND the United Kingdom are purposely trying to derail Cyprus’ attempt to ban online gambling, DISY deputy Ionas Nicolaou said yesterday.
“The interventions and comments by Malta and the United Kingdom were made purposely as online gaming is licensed in both countries and they receive huge amounts of money for those licenses,” the chairman of the House of Legal Affairs Committee said yesterday speaking after the European Union had sent back a draft bill which seeks to ban most online gambling in Cyprus.
Cyprus had sent the bill to the EU in September and government ministers had hoped to implement it by the start of the New Year. However the EU’s reply means the bill will be delayed for at least another three months.
In a statement the Ministry of Finance said that Cyprus now needs to clarify some points on the draft and that the EU will delay any further decision or comments until March 14.
“The United Kingdom has also sent us an opinion on the draft and Malta has submitted a detailed opinion,” said the statement.
The government wants to ban online poker, slot machines and other casino games, which legislators say have an estimated turnover of 2.5 billion euros a year. It does not intend to ban online sports betting.
In recent years gamblers have exploited a loophole in the law which means that online gambling via providers based in other countries is virtually unregulated in Cyprus. Police and government officials have described the practice as a “scourge” which encourages vice.
The bill calls for the creation of a licensing authority to issue permits and regulate permitted forms of gambling.
Despite the knockback from the European Union, Nicolaou remained confident that Cyprus would be able to eventually pass any online gaming law: “From the observations we see that we can regulate online betting and ban online gambling or casinos,” he said.
Nicolaou said the EU’s main queries centred on whether the government is trying to ban online casinos because they consider them substitutes for traditional live casinos. “The governing party must be careful because the EU will only allow any regulation or ban according to the EU treaty and EU law and not because of our government’s views on traditional casinos,” Nicolaou said.
Nicolaou said the EU also asked for clarification on how customers would be paying for any regulated online gaming, why the numbers of licensees included in the draft are so limited and clarification on some provisions which appear to be discriminatory among providers of these internet services.
Nicolaou insisted that these observations do not mean that Cyprus would be unable to pass an online gaming law. “Reports in the media lately that have assumed that we would fail with our bill were a little too hasty in making their remarks,” he said.
In his election manifesto, President Christofias vowed to stamp out electronic gambling, which he considers a vice threatening the moral fabric of society. The government originally approved a bill designed to put an end to online casino gambling on July 27 however despite numerous drafts it has so far failed to gain the approval of the European Union.
Cyprus-based Henrik Witt who owns the respected gambling site Classic Poker, which is licensed in the EU said: “If the ban passes it will be shady as the companies licensed in the EU will pull out from Cyprus and the companies that will take Cypriot players will hold Curacao, Costa Rica or Belize licensees.”
Witt says that if this happens licensees and players will be in a world of cheating and pain.
