The German state of Hesse’s appeal against the suspension of gambling licensing procedures has failed at the Higher Administrative Court in Kassel.
The state Hesse Ministry of the Interior and Sport (HMDIS) last month awarded 20 federal sports betting licences to a host of international and local operators under the Interstate Treaty on Gambling.
However, some of the operators that failed to obtain a licence lodged an appeal against the licensing process at the Administrative Court in Wiesbaden and succeeded in gaining a temporary delay to the proceedings.
Despite Hesse having lodged an appeal against this decision, the Higher Administrative Court Kassel ruled against the state and the suspension will remain in place until after further legal assessments of the procedures.
The decision to reject the appal was confirmed by Sven Ivo Brinck, chief executive officer of online gaming and betting provider mybet Holding, which is one of the operators to have been approved for a licence alongside the likes of bwin.party, Ladbrokes and Digibet.
“The licensing process fundamentally remains intact – we merely expect that it will be delayed, and that was to be expected,” Brinck said.
“Mybet is among the companies that the Hesse Ministry of the Interior selected as recipients of a licence.
“We continue to advocate a regulated sports betting market in Germany, including as an effective means of combating the black market.
“We therefore look forward to a swift judgment by the courts, for the sake of finally establishing legal certainty.”
source : www.igamingbusiness.com