{"id":777046164,"date":"2026-08-13T10:04:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T13:04:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777046164"},"modified":"2026-08-13T10:08:30","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T13:08:30","slug":"malaysias-kedah-loses-appeal-bid-over-gambling-licences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/malaysias-kedah-loses-appeal-bid-over-gambling-licences","title":{"rendered":"Malaysia\u2019s Federal Court rules out appeal over gambling licences in Kedah"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Federal Court has rejected the Kedah government\u2019s bid to appeal a ruling against its decision to stop issuing gambling licences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Malaysia.- The Federal Court has dismissed the Kedah government\u2019s application for leave to appeal a ruling that overturned its decision to stop issuing and renewing business licences for pool betting operators. A three-judge panel <strong>unanimously rejected the application<\/strong>, finding that the government had failed to meet a legal threshold under Section 96(a) of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A December 2025 Court of Appeal ruling on a 2-1 majority held that Kedah\u2019s policy was irrational and unconstitutional. The majority said the state had exceeded its constitutional powers by imposing a state-wide prohibition on an matter reserved for the federal government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Following the Federal Court decision, lawyer <strong>Brian Foong Mun Loong<\/strong>, representing gambling operators, said his clients would now apply for business premises licences. Kedah PAS commissioner<strong> Ahmad Yahaya<\/strong> said the party respected the court\u2019s decision but remained committed to efforts to eliminate gambling in the state. The state was also ordered to pay MYR50,000 (US$12,200) in costs.<\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"see-also-container\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"see-also-label\">See also:<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"related-article\">\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"related-article__thumbnail\" src=\"\" alt=\"\"><\/p>\n<p class=\"related-article__text\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"see-also-label-strong\">See also:<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/malaysia-arrests-58-in-world-cup-illegal-betting-crackdown\">Malaysia arrests 58 in World Cup illegal betting crackdown<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Federal Court has rejected the Kedah government\u2019s bid to appeal a ruling against its decision to stop issuing gambling licences.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":680,"featured_media":777027988,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"The Federal Court of Malaysia has dismissed the Kedah government's appeal to uphold its ban on issuing and renewing gambling licenses, affirming a prior ruling that the state's policy was unconstitutional. This decision clarifies the delineation of regulatory authority between state and federal governments regarding gaming verticals. Affected pool betting operators can now proceed with license applications, signaling a return to operational stability in Kedah.","focusai_entities":"Kedah government, Federal Court, Court of Appeal, Brian Foong Mun Loong, Ahmad Yahaya, PAS","focusai_location":"Malaysia, Kedah","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (1.0), operator_casino (1.0), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Federal vs. State Powers?","query":"What are the broader implications of this Federal Court ruling for the delineation of regulatory authority between state and federal governments concerning gaming verticals in Malaysia?"},{"label":"Operator Licensing Outlook?","query":"How quickly can affected pool betting operators in Kedah secure new business premises licenses, and what are the anticipated timelines for resuming full operations?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[439,16333],"tags":[25148,226],"class_list":["post-777046164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-legal-news","category-south-east-asia-news","tag-licensing","tag-malaysia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777046164","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\/680"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777046164"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777046164\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777046174,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777046164\/revisions\/777046174"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777027988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777046164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777046164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777046164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}