Sportingbet plays down Ireland betting breach
Operator says it unwittingly accepted bets from 143 customers based within the recently re-regulated Irish market
Sportingbet said a “legal technicality” was to blame after being found to have accepted a number of bets from Ireland-based customers following the start of the country’s new online licensing regime.
The GVC Holdings-owned operator, which has applied for but has yet to receive an Irish online betting licence, said it unwittingly accepted bets from a total of 143 customers since the new Point of Consumption regime went live on 1 August.
The firm insisted it had closed-off access to its sportsbook and virtual sports products to Irish customers as per the new regulations but a “handful” of customers slipped through the net.
On realising its error on Tuesday, the firm initially contacted customers to inform them all open bets placed in August would be made void, however, the company has since agreed with Irish authorities to honour all outstanding bets.
“Sportingbet acted in good faith and in the spirit of regulation by pre-emptively closing access to sports betting for Irish customers,” a GVC spokesperson told eGaming Review this afternoon.
“A handful of customers were able to place bets due to a legal technicality which we was then advised should be voided. However, in the tradition of the company we are honouring all bets in favour of the customer.
“The issue has been promptly and fully addressed and we apologise to those few customers affected,” the spokesperson added.
The firm has approximately 19,000-20,000 registered customers in Ireland and said it hoped to obtain its licence in the coming weeks. The new licensing regime does not impact on gaming products which are subject to a VAT levy.
Earlier this week GVC was the subject of a lawsuit in which it was accused of reneging on a deal to form a Canada-facing joint-venture with Canadian marketing company 37Entertainment (37E).
37E is seeking compensation which it said would have a “material effect on the business, financial condition and operations of GVC”.
GVC is currently in a battle with 888 to acquire bwin.party and today said it was prepared to do everything in its power to secure the deal.