Sport plus demands public apology from Novalić for comparing betting shops to prostitution

The management of the company “Sport Plus” has sent a letter to the office of the Prime Minister of the Federation of BiH, as well as to Prime Minister Fadil Novalić personally, demanding an immediate apology for a statement made during a press conference held on Friday, 16.09.2016. We are transmitting the statement in its entirety:

- On that day, using inappropriate language, false insinuations, and verbal insults with severe consequences for all companies engaged in organizing games of chance, as well as for our employees, Mr. Novalić stated the following:

“We would prefer that there were no games of chance at all, despite employing over 4,000 workers. We think it is a shame for a society. In terms of the number of betting shops, we are the largest in Europe. And betting shops are a scourge, just like drugs and prostitution.” – quote of Fadil Novalić’s statement, taken from the portal www.n1info.com.

With such words and publicly expressed insults, the Prime Minister of the Federation of BiH, the prime minister of all citizens of this entity, including employees of the betting shop “Sport Plus”, degrades, insults, slanders, and inflicts emotional pain on more than 850 employees of this company.

On behalf of the management of the company “Sport Plus” d.o.o. and on behalf of all employees, we most strongly condemn such politically motivated statements stemming from poorly constructed election campaigns of certain parties in the FBiH and demand a public apology for all of the above. We believe that a politically active public figure, in this case the Prime Minister of the Federation of BiH, cannot allow themselves, nor the Office they represent, to categorize one of the most regulated economic sectors in the country among criminals involved in prostitution, or to call betting shops (private companies engaged in organizing games of chance) a “scourge, the same as drugs”.

Esteemed Prime Minister, tonight and now, we demand that you issue a public apology and retract the previous statement made at the aforementioned conference. The fact that this statement has caused emotional pain to all employees of our company cannot be denied by any institution, nor by the Government of the Federation of BiH, of which you are the prime minister.

“Sport Plus” d.o.o. is a legally established company that has been operating regularly with the approval of the Federal Ministry of Finance since 2011.

The insults you have made, which target all betting shops (private companies engaged in games of chance), damage the reputation of our company, disrupt business, and discriminate in the economic market of the FBiH.

In addition, we remind you of the official act adopted by the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliament in the spring of this year – the Declaration on Condemnation of Hate Speech. In theory, hate speech is considered any form of expression that is considered offensive, derogatory, intimidating, disturbing, used for attack, and which incites violence, hatred, and discrimination. It is generally accepted that hate speech is an abuse of freedom of speech that incites intolerance and discrimination.

Competent human rights protection institutions are obliged to react and act in combating hate speech in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Therefore, on behalf of all our employees, as well as on behalf of their families, we demand an immediate apology and retraction of all the statements we have previously quoted. We are confident that all other private companies operating in our industry in the entity of which you are prime minister will have the same reaction, and that the demand for satisfaction of this kind will also receive the support of the wider public.

Convinced that behind all your words and actions lies the intention to destroy private organizers of games of chance in the FBiH, we remain determined in our fight for all the rights that belong to us as entrepreneurs in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, i.e., citizens of the FBiH.

Hoping that the Prime Minister’s Office, as well as the Prime Minister of the Federation of BiH Fadil Novalić, will recognize the well-intentioned request for an apology regarding the insults and humiliating terminology in the description of us and our employees, we expect a positive response.

The management of Premier betting shop also demands a public apology, condemning Prime Minister Novalić’s statement.

- By linking games of chance with "drugs" and "prostitution", Mr. Novalić has forgotten, intentionally or unintentionally, that games of chance are a legal activity in the Federation of BiH, regulated by the Law on Games of Chance, while "drugs" and "prostitution" are illegal, i.e., prohibited by law in the Federation of BiH. We allow that Fadil Novalić, as a person, a citizen of the Federation of BiH, has the right to personal views and opinions on certain topics, thus he has the right to the opinion that "betting shops should not exist", but Mr. Fadil Novalić, acting as the Prime Minister of the Federation of BiH, as he did at the moment of making the above statement, must respect the Constitution and laws of the Federation of BiH, in accordance with which the legal activity of organizing games of chance is regulated within the Federation of BiH.

- Furthermore, "Premier kladionica", as the leading organizer of games of chance in the Federation of BiH, employing over 1,000 citizens of the Federation of BiH, operating absolutely in accordance with legal regulations, as confirmed by numerous inspections and as confirmed by all available documentation from competent institutions, demands an immediate public apology from the Prime Minister of the Federation of BiH for causing irreparable damage to the reputation of our company. Furthermore, we believe that the aforementioned statement by the Prime Minister of the Federation of BiH, Mr. Fadil Novalić, is yet another piece of evidence that SDA does not choose its means or methods and does not shy away from the lowest blows in its efforts to destroy private organizers of games of chance in order to create a monopoly for Lutrija BiH and Austrian Novomatic, and that for personal and party interests, they are consciously sacrificing the jobs of 5,500 employees of private organizers, as well as 76 million KM, which private betting shops pay into the federal budget annually. We hereby inform them that their tricks, false accusations, and deceptions only motivate us to be even more persistent and determined in our fight for the legal right to organize games of chance, in accordance with the laws and regulations of the Federation of BiH.