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Online sports betting returns, government completes legal framework after 2 years of delay: 10 licenses available, new rules for players

2026-07-18 12:34:24Aktualitet SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
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The government completes the legal framework that paves the way for the permission of online sports betting, 28 months after the law came into force. The Gambling Supervisory Authority explains to Report TV the procedures that will be followed for the licensing of companies, but there is still no deadline for the opening of the competition. Betting will be allowed only online and through identification with an identity card.

After 28 months from the adoption of the law "On Games of Chance in the Republic of Albania", all the bylaws have been approved to further pave the way for the permitting of online sports betting.

There are 8 bylaws, Council of Ministers and Instructions that have received the green light from the government. The last two were approved on June 26, setting out the procedures and deadlines for the suspension or revocation of the "online sports betting" gambling license, as well as the decision on the administration of the special fund created by gambling activities.

"Law 155/2015 "On Games of Chance in the Republic of Albania" (as amended), with the latest approvals, has been supplemented with bylaws regarding the category of the game "Online Sports Betting", says in a response to Report TV, the Gambling Supervisory Authority.

The delay of more than 2 years in supplementing the law with sub-legal acts to make it enforceable was previously explained by the Ministry of Finance to Report TV with the argument that it was a process of high technical and institutional complexity, which required extended cycles of consultations and verifications, also due to the new systems that had to be established.

The current law provides for the granting of 10 licenses, but there is still no deadline for when the calls for applications will open. The Gambling Supervisory Authority explains to Report TV that this institution, the Licensing Commission and the technical secretariat will organize the competitive procedures for granting licenses.

"The Gaming Supervisory Authority (AMLF), the Licensing Commission established pursuant to Article 17/1 of Law 155/2015 "On Gaming in the Republic of Albania", as amended, and its technical secretariat shall organize the competitive and evaluation procedures according to the respective tasks, as defined by law and in this decision. The Licensing Commission shall decide on the opening of a competitive procedure and the number of licenses to be granted in the call. Within 7 (seven) days from the decision to open the competitive procedure by the Licensing Commission, the AMLF shall publish the notice of competition for the granting of the license for the provision of "Online Sports Betting" on the official website, in two international newspapers, as well as in the Bulletin of Public Notices," the response states.

Online betting will only be possible if you log in with an ID card, even a scanned one. The systems where betting will be organized will guarantee mechanisms for tracking every user action, as well as having special algorithms for calculating winnings.

The law adopted in February 2024, in its Article 22, also sets out the conditions that must be met to apply for a license, including:

- The company must have a share capital of 40 million lek. -
The applicant entity or at least one of its shareholders must have experience in the field of gambling in no less than 3 EU/OECD countries and for no less than 3 years. If the experience in the field of gambling is provided by one of the shareholders of the applicant entity, he must own no less than 30 percent of the shares in the company.
- The applicant entity or at least one of the shareholders must have generated in the last financial year at least 2 billion lek turnover from activity in the field of gambling.
Also, online sports betting organizers are obliged to freeze a fund of 120 million lek, in a special bank account, in favor of the Ministry of Finance, which is unblocked only by order of the minister responsible for finance.

The reopening of online sports betting comes almost 7 years after the 'End of Folly' campaign that was implemented from January 1, 2019, which closed 4,214 betting points in the country./shqiptarja.com


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