bet365 wins Bulgaria licence appeal

bet365 has been granted the right to operate its sports betting services in Bulgaria following its licence appeal with the administrative Court of Sofia against its ‘blacklist’ by Bulgaria’s State Commission on Gambling (SCG).  

SCG had suspended bet365’s Bulgarian license on the grounds that the bookmaker had violated regulatory provisions prior to gaining its initial market approval.

bet365 governance moved to quickly challenge SCG’s license revoke, stating that the regulator had created unfavorable market conditions for foreign operators with the aim of supporting Bulgarian owned incumbents’ interests

The bookmaker had launched its direct appeal with the Court of Sofia in April seeking to overturn SGC’s ruling, following a review of its appeal the court declared that bet365 would be able to resume its online sports betting services in accordance with Bulgarian industry regulations.

The winning appeal ends one of bet365’s current Eastern European legal challenges, as the UK operator continues to petition for the reinstatement of its Romanian online gambling license, which last year saw the operator revoked of its interim licence by Romania’s gambling commission despite paying back its requested back-taxes.