Sport Plus Betting Shops: We Operate Properly in Kakanj and Employ Workers

The association "Youth Cultural Center Kakanj" has publicly released the results of the project "Caution - Betting Shop on the Road," which contains numerous untruths about betting shops, i.e., companies engaged in games of chance, and has damaged the reputation of companies that employ over 5,500 people in FBiH.

The management of Sport Plus betting shops believes that these claims and the entire text are an arbitrarily calculated attack on companies engaged in games of chance in Kakanj, as well as throughout FBiH, Patria reports.

Specifically, the text states that "youth, as well as citizens, must be made aware of the enormous impact and harmfulness of this social vice.".

We remind you that betting shops are legally established and officially registered companies engaged in games of chance in FBiH and as such cannot be classified as a social vice or be called harmful to society.

Furthermore, the fact that the members of this Association carried out the campaign during the election campaign for the Local Elections in BiH, i.e., at a time when the Prime Minister of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Fadil Novalić, also attacked and insulted private organizers of games of chance, speaks volumes about how independently this Association conducted its research and how valid and correct its results, as well as the project itself, actually are.

In the same text, they state that more than 50 percent of young people between 15 and 17 years of age gamble, or that betting shops violate the law and allow minors to gamble, which is a deliberate lie and insult.

We are saddened by the fact that such a "statistic" was presented by an association of young people that claims betting shops "harmfully affect high school students.".

We also deny all claims and condemn this type of unfounded public statement, because betting shops, in this case "Sport Plus" d.o.o., both in FBiH and in the area of Kakanj, are among the companies that operate properly and employ local residents.

Specifically, "Sport Plus" has four payment points in Kakanj and employs ten workers. All payment points have Work Permits issued by the Federal Ministry of Finance, implement the Law on Games of Chance of FBiH, and respect the ban on gambling for persons under 18 years of age.

We note that we are disappointed by the fact that no one from the mentioned Association even attempted to contact us and request cooperation on the project.

"Sport Plus" d.o.o. Novi Travnik does not violate the law, and we would gladly provide the project authors with a copy of the Law on Games of Chance, which they are apparently not familiar with.

We also expect a change to the Project Report that the Association "Youth Cultural Center Kakanj" submitted to the media, in which they state that "young people in Kakanj have become addicted to games of chance," or that "youth, as well as citizens, must be made aware of the enormous impact and harmfulness of this social vice.".

We emphasize that private companies engaged in games of chance, in this text betting shops, i.e., the company "Sport Plus" d.o.o. Novi Travnik, are not responsible for young people's absence from classes, nor for the problems in the curriculum faced by educational professionals.