Slovenian lawmaker resigns over failed sports betting bill

Slovenian MP Branko Zorman has quit the ruling Modern Centre Party in Slovenia following the failure of his sports betting liberalisation bill in the Senate and in a re-vote in the National Assembly Thursday.

Our readers may recall that early last month, despite opposition from the government, the upper chamber and sports betting monopoly operator Sportna Loterija, Zorman pressed ahead with a bill seeking to open the sports betting market to a wider range of operators, including those outside the nation’s borders (see previous reports).

Zorman claimed that such operators are already active in the market but are unable to acquire licensing or pay taxes due to the monopolistic structure of the gambling environment. The lawmaker proposed that licensing be made available to a wider range of operators, with fees and taxes dedicated to the development of sports, along with disability and humanitarian organisations.

Current gambling regulations in Slovenia restrain games of chance to two operators: the national lottery Loterija Slovenije and sports betting firm Sportna Loterija. The Finance Ministry observed that in 2016 it had drawn up a proposal to comprehensively tackle the liberalisation issue but there was no political will to pass it.

The government opposed the Zorman proposal, arguing that it did not comprehensively address alignment with European Union law, did not lift restrictions capping private ownership in gaming operators, and did not tackle red tape.

Sportna Loterija chairman Edvard Kolar said that the Zorman-sponsored bill would not bring improvements and did not address critical issues such as illegal gambling, harmful advertising, scams, addiction, risky betting products and risk of unfair gaming practice.

Working with parliament’s legal office Zorman made several amendments which passed a committee vote 12 vs. 4, taking it to a parliamentary vote, but the bill finally failed Thursday, precipitating Zorman’s resignation.

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