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Sports Betting in Greece: Athens court allows re-opening of Stanleybet shop

Jan 15, 2009 - Brussels

The Athens Administrative Court of First Instance   yesterday provisionally ordered the lifting of the sealing of Stanleybet’s outlet in Athens, which took place last November, and allowed the re-opening of the outlet.
 
In October last year, Stanleybet International opened two outlets in Athens and Thessaloniki. However, the Greek authorities summarily shut them down and arrested the company’s intermediaries, in direct contravention of Article 49 of the EU Treaty which provides Stanleybet International with the right to offer cross-border sports betting services. The Greek authorities justified their action by a Greek law the legality of which has been questioned by the European Commission.

Adrian Morris, Deputy Managing Director, Stanleybet International, said: “Although today’s Court decision is purely procedural, we interpret this as a first move by the Greek courts to acknowledge our right to offer our innovative sports betting services to Greek consumers. In addition it is a clear indication that Greek judges apply laws consistently and without hesitation. Our continuing goal is to create a free, competitive and regulated betting market in Greece, fully compliant with EU law. We have called upon the Greek Government to comply fully with its EU obligations and we intend to open new shops in the coming weeks.”

ENDS

For further information, please contact:
media@stanleyint.com

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