Online Betting Company Betfair Sues Dutch Government
By Anna Johnson on May 12th, 2009Online betting company, Betfair, has brought legal action against the Dutch government in a case worth millions of Euros in damages.
Betfair decided to sue after the Dutch Ministry of Justice sent a letter to Dutch banks urging them not to process payments from any Dutch customers wishing to place a bet on a legal gaming website.
According to Betfair, if the banks comply with the Dutch Government’s request the upshot will be that Betfair and many other U.K. licensed operators will be unable to offer their services to Dutch citizens.
“This is a desperate move by the Dutch government to prevent a company that is fully licensed and regulated in jurisdictions across Europe from being accessed by residents in the Netherlands,” said Mark Davies, Managing Director at Betfair.
Davies said the Dutch Government’s actions undermine the interests of Dutch consumers and “fly in the face of the EU principles of open and fair competition.”
According to Davies, the Dutch Government’s move is not so much based on protecting Dutch consumers from the evils of gambling, as it is on protecting other interests.
Davies said the government’s objectives was to shut out “foreign operators while feather-bedding domestic monopolies, one a big U.S. multinational, and protect a cosy cartel cannot be allowed to continue.”
Betfair has also formally complained to the European Commission arguing that the Dutch government’s action unlawfully protects the Dutch gaming monopoly and violates EC laws regarding the free movement of services within the EU.
