News

Monday, November 27, 2006
German Court ruling against sports betting

Today, the Supreme Court of the German region of North Rhein-Westphalia ruled that advertising for sports betting by online operators and sports clubs is against the law. The court argued that the advertising is illegal because it concerns an unlawful service (gambling).

The situation in Germany is expected to remain uncertain for a while, as it is in various other federal countries. There are a great number of other legal procedings ongoing in various German regions, all trying to give their own interpretation of the compatibility of German gambling restrictions with EU law.

In March this year, the national Supreme Court gave a ruling that the state gambling monopolies were operating unlawfully if they did not aim to reduce gambling. The legislator was given, until 2007 to come up with a new state law to address the gambling situation and at least until then, private operators will continue to challenge the monopolies.