Bulgaria regulator adds 10 more sites to blacklist
CasinoClub and Winamax among the latest additions to Bulgaria's banned list as regulator aims to protect consumers from "unscrupulous" operators
Bulgaria’s State Gambling Commission has added a further ten domains to its blacklist of illegal operators, including GVC-owned CasinoClub, Winamax and Malta-licensed Mega Casino.
The blacklist, which was created after the Bulgarian parliament handed the Commission power to order internet service providers to block unlicensed sites, now comprises around 150 domains.
Earlier this month, the Commission awarded the country’s first online sports betting licence to Malta-based Eurofootball, subject to the operator paying a licence fee of around 20,000.
Bulgaria’s gambling regulator had been expected to begin awarding online operator licences last year following the passage of legislation in the Bulgarian parliament in March 2012.
In preparation for a ring-fenced dot.bg market, in recent months the Commission has drawn up a list of unlicensed domains owned by operators including bet365, Betfair, Ladbrokes and William Hill.
After adding a further ten sites to the blacklist, the Commission said in a statement that the move was necessary to protect consumers from “unscrupulous operators” based offshore.
“Most Internet providers which offer Internet gambling are physically located offshore. As a result, the operator can edit, move or completely removed sites within a few minutes. This option allows unscrupulous operators to take credit card numbers and the money deposited in the accounts of players and then closed its doors,” the Commission said.
In August, Ognemir Mitev was named chairman of the Commission after succeeding Ivan Enicherov.
The ten domains added to the blacklist are:
betshop.com
megacasino.com
winamax.fr
amsterdamscasino.com
zeturf.com
stargames.com
casinoclub.com
goldencherry.com
klavercasino.com
vegaswinner.com