MORE GREEK ONLINE GAMBLING ARRESTS

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Three Internet cafes raided

Three Internet cafe owners, and six of their players are reported to be under arrest in Arta, Western Greece following raids this week by Greek police. The authorities claim that illegal online betting was taking place at the three venues, which had installed gambling software offering foreign-based online betting on games at an unspecified UK bookie.

The arrests come in a week in which British gambling group William Hill voiced an intention to challenge the Greek government monopoly if its application for a betting license was turned down. As a member of the European Union, Greece is subject to the requirements of the union's free passage for trade and services from other EU states policy.

Gambling in Greece is the preserve of OPAP, in which the government has interests. The president of OPAP, Sotiris Kostakos, did not mince his words in responding to the news of the arrests, telling reporters: "The only company with the right to operate betting in Greece is OPAP. Some people are getting rich unlawfully while the Greek state haemorrhages."

According to OPAP, which is Greece’s only officially sanctioned betting organisation, the illegal betting market in Greece is equal in value to the state-monopoly, or roughly Euro 1.4 billion. OPAP had earlier threatened to prosecute Greek residents who try to circumvent its services and bet directly with foreign gaming companies online. Last month a Piraeus man was detained for similar offences.