THE NICOSIA Race Club said yesterday the racing industry in Cyprus was in danger of dying out if the government went ahead with a plan to amend the gambling law.
Marketing Manager George Hadjiminas told the Cyprus Mail that, “we have sent the government a letter expressing our concerns and very much hope that they will take our views into consideration.”
He said that the amended bill will only allow betting on foreign horse races to be carried out by a system of fixed odds and will allow betting on local races to be carried out by other companies. “The financing of racing is 100 per cent through betting so our request is that betting should be carried out by the organisation that conducts racing,” Hadjiminas said, adding that betting on foreign races shouldn’t be allowed.
“The reason that the government wants to make the amendment is to combat illegal betting. However, there is no evidence that it will stop the phenomenon. In other countries where this amendment has been made, illegal betting has continued and hundreds of so-called mini-casinos have been created. The amendment allows for electronic betting so everybody’s home will in effect be a little casino. If it’s not controlled, gambling can become addictive and a new bill where the foreign racing market is opened up will create problem gambling.”
Currently, the Race Club offers around 20 races a week with the amendment due to open up 200 races a day.
Hadjiminas went on to say that, “90 per cent of bets are placed on foreign races and 50 per cent of those will gradually move to internet betting, meaning the government will lose revenue. The market will be opened up to fraud and it will be easy for people to fix races, as a punter will be able to bet on a horse to lose.
“Foreign betting companies will invade Cyprus with the opening of betting shops and the internet, and the industry on the island will be destroyed.”
According to Hadjiminas, the Nicosia Race Club will suffer a gradual and painful death over several years. “One thousand industry employees, 1,000 horse owners and millions of pounds of investment will go down the drain,” he said.
“The government will lose five million pounds in tax revenues while the Municipality of Ayios Dhometios will lose £500,000 worth of revenue every year.”
The advantages of the amendment he said, are that betting tax will be reduced, a new, legal betting framework will be introduced and there will be stiffer penalties for those involved in illegal gambling.
“However, we believe that the lawyer appointed by the government to work on the amendment has a conflict of interest. He acts for Ladbroke’s, one of the biggest betting companies in the world and has been pivotal in the development of internet betting and represents a number of these companies around the world. He is the wrong choice.”
