The European Court of Justice has been hearing cases from Ladbrokes and Betfair this week over their right to provide betting services to the Dutch market.
Although the cases both adressed a similar topic, they were unrelated. Ladbrokes has been involved in a seven-year battle against the Dutch government, which issued an injunction preventing the group from accepting wagers from its citizens. Betfair has made an official complaint to the European Court of Justice against a letter that was circulated among Dutch banks by the government.
"Ladbrokes is a well regulated, licensed betting and gaming operator and under Article 49 of the Treaty on European Union our services should be accessible in other member states," said John O’Reilly, Ladbrokes’ MD of remote betting and gaming.
"The injunction against Ladbrokes is aimed at protecting the revenues of the Dutch state monopoly sports betting provider and there is no justification for it in European Community law," continued O’Reilly. "It does not make sense that a Dutch citizen can cross the border into Belgium and place a bet in a Ladbrokes shop, yet we are banned from accepting bets from Dutch citizens online."
It may reportedly take up to a year for rulings to be made in both cases.
