OPAP has completed a major corporate social responsibility initiative after announcing the renovation of Athens’ Aghia Sofia children’s general hospital. The modernisation of Aghia Sofia’s children’s ward was first announced as a core CSR project by OPAP in 2018, with the betting group taking full responsibility for the funding of the renovation of Athens largest paediatric unit from Athens municipal …
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Fourth of July celebrations could not hide President Donald Trump’s struggles to retain his administration, as Betfair Politics stated that Joe Biden is now 8/11 favourite to win the upcoming US 2020 Presidential Election (3 November). Tracking a ‘nightmare June’ for Trump, in which his Presidency has been scarred by the social unrest caused by the COVID-19 lockdown and Black …
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France’s newly formed L’Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ) has announced a number of new appointments to its senior leadership team as it looks to govern a new ‘unified era for French gambling’. Officially launched this June, the ANJ will serve as France’s ‘single regulatory agency’ for gambling, replacing ARJEL and further industry oversight responsibilities of the French Treasury and the …
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Marcello Minenna, the new Director-General of Italy’s Custom and Monopolies Agency (ADM), has issued his first public statement to licensed gambling incumbents. Appointed during national lockdown, Minenna takes charge of the agency governing Italian gambling. In his address, Minenna announced that the ADM would imminently move to form a new taskforce with the Carabinieri (federal police) targeting illegal gambling businesses. …
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The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has demanded that the Scottish Government lift ‘draconian restrictions’ that are wrecking the viability of Scottish bookmakers making a business comeback from lockdown. Closed since mid-March, Scotland’s 900 betting shops were allowed to reopen on Monday 29 June. However, Scottish National Party (SNP) ministers applied last-minute requirements demanding betting shops remove chairs and switch …
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Oliver Dowden, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), has approved the re-election of Stephen Cohen as a Commissioner of the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC). This week, DCMS confirmed that Cohen’s tenure as UKGC commissioner would be extended for a further four years until November 2024. Described as an expert in corporate finance, auditing and governance of …
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Rank Group Plc has issued a market update as it begins to reopen its Mecca Bingo venues across England from Saturday 4 July. Absorbing COVID-19 impacts and costs, Rank stated that its group underlying profits will fall at the lower end of its provided £48-58 million guidance for the year ending 30 June 2020. Despite the closure of its entire …
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The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has launched a consultation which will review the rules and procedures that are in place for licensed gambling operators when engaging with high-value customers (HVC) and VIP players. In launching the review, the Commission said it recognised the exceptional commercial value that VIP customers hold for licensees and the ‘preferential service’ high-value customers receive from …
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Spanish gambling group Codere SA has launched ‘CODWIN’, its new Italian market AWP games (fruit machines) distribution unit, formed by the merger of its shareholdings in subsidiaries Gap Games Italia and FG Slot. Italian industry news sources report that the launch of CODWIN, had been formally approved by Gap Games and FG Slot investors at an April shareholder meeting, allowing …
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The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) has confirmed that the European Associations for TV and Radio publishers has become the latest organisation to welcome its new code of conduct on responsible advertising for online gambling. Becoming the first pan-European initiative for gambling advertising, the code establishes responsible standards for advertising for the online gambling sector. The egta will subsequently …
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