{"id":17192,"date":"2021-04-23T16:20:19","date_gmt":"2021-04-23T16:20:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=17192"},"modified":"2026-04-23T20:06:39","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T23:06:39","slug":"dubai-denies-legalising-gambling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/dubai-denies-legalising-gambling","title":{"rendered":"Dubai denies legalising gambling"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dubai has denied that it has legalised gambling, describing the rumours as fake news.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">United Arab Emirates.- There have been rumours circulating on social media this week that Dubai had legalised gambling at some hotels. <strong>The government&#8217;s media office <\/strong>has put the speculation to rest, saying that the rumours are entirely false.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Under <strong>United Arab Emirates law, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/philippines-government-employees-arrested-for-illegal-gambling\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/philippines-government-employees-arrested-for-illegal-gambling\" target=\"_blank\">gambling is illegal<\/a> in the country <\/strong>with fines of between <strong>AED250,000 ($54,459) and AED500,000. <\/strong>Making, managing, or supervising of any content related to the gaming industry is forbidden. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Only betting on horseracing is permitted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The rumour circulating had it that certain hotels had been granted licences to offer gambling during May at the commencement of<strong> Eid al-Fitr festivities. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dubai has clarified that it has no plans to legalise gambling<strong> or to expand sports betting<\/strong> beyond horses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2020, Dubai&#8217;s police launched a mobile app that lets users report any suspicions of betting activity. This app can be used by locals and visitors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dubai has denied that it has legalised gambling, describing the rumours as fake news.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Dubai's government media office has officially refuted social media rumors regarding the legalization of gambling within the emirate, asserting these claims are entirely false. Under UAE law, gambling remains illegal, with significant fines for violations, and current regulations only permit betting on horseracing. The clarification underscores Dubai's continued adherence to its existing regulatory framework, with no immediate plans to expand gaming verticals.","focusai_entities":"Dubai's government media office, Dubai Police","focusai_location":"Dubai, United Arab Emirates","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (0.9), compliance_legal (0.9), operator_casino (0.9), affiliate_publisher (0.8), marketing_crm (0.8), payments_fraud_aml (0.8), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.9), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"UAE Gambling Penalties?","query":"What are the precise legal and financial penalties for entities or individuals found to be in breach of the UAE's anti-gambling statutes, particularly concerning the operation or promotion of prohibited gaming verticals?"},{"label":"Regional Investment Impact?","query":"How does Dubai's reaffirmed prohibition on general gambling impact the strategic investment outlook and operational planning for international iGaming and hospitality groups considering market entry or expansion within the broader MENA region?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[160,439,158],"tags":[4503,337],"class_list":["post-17192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-asia-pacific","category-legal-news","category-slider-home","tag-legal","tag-regulation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17192"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17192\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17206,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17192\/revisions\/17206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}