More than 150 employees of Bosnian sports betting shops protest against new gambling law

More than 150 employees of Bosnian sports betting shops Bet-Live and Petica Plus protested today in front of the BBI Center in Sarajevo, due to amendments to the Law on Games of Chance, which were adopted a few days ago in the House of Representatives of the FBiH Parliament, Patria reports.

Amendments to this law, which caused a public uproar, are soon to be considered by the delegates of the House of Peoples of the FBiH.

Domestic bookmakers warn that the new Government's Law on Games of Chance in the FBiH, if passed by the House of Peoples, will threaten more than 2,550 betting shops in the FBiH, which employ more than 5,000 workers.

The new amendments to the Law on Games of Chance introduce new taxation for players and betting shops - 10 percent on stakes for all games, and a 10 percent tax on all winnings. This taxation applies only to domestic private betting shops, but not to the Lottery of BiH.

- If such a law passes, domestic private sports betting shops will be taxed, but not the Lottery of BiH, which houses machines from the Austrian company Novomatic, and which in this way drains money from the FBiH. The new law puts domestic betting shops in an unequal position compared to the Lottery of BiH, that is, it puts us in an unequal position compared to Novomatic - claim domestic bookmakers, Patria reports.