Online Casino Ban in Cyprus Delayed

In September 2010, the Cyprus government passed a proposal to the European Commission about banning online gaming. The government hopes to have the ban enacted before the year ends but it seems that online casino players in Cyprus will live another year. However, the Cyprus government wants to retain online sports betting.

The government of Cyprus wanted to ban online gambling to protect its citizens from the troubles in online poker and gambling. They have also cited the case in Portugal wherein the European Court of Justice ruled in favor of banning online gambling in the country. While the Cyprus government wants to get this done quickly, getting feedback from other members of the European Union would take at least three months.

Thus, the ban can start as early as March 2011 if things go the government’s way. The United Kingdom and Malta have opposed the banning and the Cyprus government is not happy with it. Ionas Nicolaou, Democratic Rally Party deputy and House Legal Affairs Committee chairman, said that the UK and Malta are clearly not in favor of the ban for a lot of online casinos have operating licenses from the two countries and the revenues from the online casinos give them tons of money.

Meanwhile, the Cyprus Ministry of Finance would have to clarify some points in the proposal and the European Commission will only decide once the information from the other countries has been sent. Despite the delay, Nicolaou is confident that the ban will be enacted. According to the queries of the European Commission, it’s hard to implement the ban on online gambling if you are only looking to do so to lessen the competition for real casinos.

Also, it would be easier to get the ban done if the proposal does not violate any provisions or laws that the European Union has. The European Commission has also asked the Cyprus government to clarify the payment process for online sports betting and the limited numbers of licensees in the draft. The EC is also asking clarifications about discriminating provisions for online gambling providers.
Henrik Witt, an online gambling operator in Cyprus, said that the ban can cause the Cyprus economy to lose more money and online gaming operators and even online casino players will transfer locations and a lot of people will lose livelihood.