Is Online Betting Legal in Greece?
Although legal, online betting in Greece still is a little bit of an enigma. To understand why, we have to look back at Greece’s betting history.
The Greek gambling laws underwent a major alteration in 1996. In an attempt to regulate sports betting and gaming within their borders the Greek government granted monopoly wagering rights to OPAP, which is a state owned organization. It was initially agreed that these rights should last up to 2020 but were later extended to 2030.
Challenges from the EU
In addition to that, the Greek monopoly created a lot of black market due to lack of competition which caused alarm among other EU members and anger from the firms locked out.
UK firms Stanleybet, Sportingbet and William Hill all attempted to apply individually for licenses in Greece between 2004 and 2007, but were rejected. They claimed it violated the laws of EU free market and as a result Stanleybet opened a shop in Athens in November 2008. It was immediately shut down by the regulatory authorities, however prompting the EU to step in and thus re-opened it in 2009.
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From 2004 to 2007 three British companies – Sportingbet, William Hill and Stanleybet – all tried to get Greek licenses one after another, but were denied this opportunity. These organisations stated that it violated EU laws on free market which led to Stanleybet opening a store In Athens come November 2008. This was quickly closed by the authorities; although an intervention by the European Union saw it reopened in 2009.
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Stanleybet tried to open its shop in Athens during November of 2008 while Sportingbet attempted to start operations there at around same time period whereas William Hill did so between these years (from 2004-07). Although they asserted this infringed upon EU law regarding free markets, the companies went ahead with their plans. Nonetheless, European Union came into play because Greek authorities had shut down the outlet but it opened again in two thousand nine.
When the European Union convicted the monopoly of illegality in 2013, what followed was that the Greek government agreed to sell a majority stake in OPAP to a private equity firm. In addition, this verdict made Stanleybet declare that it would sue Greece for loss of profits since its application was rejected in 2004; however, no such eventuality happened.
Recent Developments in Greek Gambling Laws
Since that time, many years have gone by but the situation has not become easier in Greece. By definition, any website with a license from the Hellenic Gambling Commission (HGC) is allowed to provide bookmaking services in Greece. Law 4002/2011 came into effect on July 19, 2011 and provided for the issuance of several temporary licenses, which included Bet365 Greece and Bwin Greece among other Greek versions of popular international brands.
However, lawmakers in Greece have continued to jeopardize such effortless accessibility through a range of propositions. In 2016, there was an idea of increasing tax from 30% to 35%, which has since been authorized. And in the year 2018, they proposed a fee of €4 million for legal sports betting providers. This figure has now been adjusted downwards by one million euros although it is still substantial.
Fortunately, this does not affect the gamblers – only the bookies. You can gamble freely on any site you want whether it is based in Greece or overseas and do this within existing legality.