Cyprus Close to Banning Online Casinos
December 10th, 2010
Some countries are moving forward with everything related with online gambling and bettering the quality of life in their countries by bringing in more money and jobs for their people. These days there are more people playing online penny slot games and other casino favorites than ever before, hence there’s a lot of possibilities for the industry to grow. However, this is not a rule for all places of the world and the island of Cyprus is a good example since it’s now trying to ban online gambling before the end of 2010.
It’s common knowledge that Cyprus has never been a supporter of gambling in any shape or form and has gone as far as not allowing brick and mortar casinos to operate on the Eastern Mediterranean island. Nevertheless, Cyprus became an European Union member in 2004 and since becoming compliant with EU gambling regulations in 2007, the citizens of the Island were able to place online bets that totaled close to €2.5 billion annually in what has been called ‘unlawful’ online gambling.
Cyprus has now proposed a bill to the EU which hopes to ban all form of online gambling besides sports bets. The EU law does not allow for EU nations to have any restrictions on the exchange of services between EU countries, the government of Cyprus has to request the European Commission for special permission to enforce their own online gambling ban. Cyprus is following in the footsteps of Portugal who in 2009 successfully defended their own internet gambling ban in the European Court of Justice. Both countries claim that this ban will help to reduce their domestic crime since authorities believe that the violence in the area is caused by online casino wagering and the elimination of this option will help them control criminal elements better.


