European Council supports Albania’s gambling ban

The country passed a law banning sports betting and other gambling modalities last week.

Albania.- Officials of the European Council have voiced their support to Albania’s government over its decision to close betting shops, casinos and ban sports betting in the country. The Albanian parliament passed the law that bans sports betting and other forms of gambling late last week.

The ban is set to start in 2019 in an attempt to decrease match-fixing in sports competitions and tackle addiction. The legislation passed with 75 votes in favour from members of the Socialist Party, which is the same one as Prime Minister Edi Rama’s. The legal piece will make all slot machine parlours, betting shops and other forms of sports betting including online sites close before the start of 2019.

Christos Giakoumopoulos, General Director for Human Rights and Rule of Law, said that the decision from the parliament also helps the prevention of money laundering. “The extreme measures that were taken this year are welcome”, Giakoumopoulos said.

The EC official also added that the European Council mechanism Moneyval is currently monitoring the performance of local institutions for money laundering and that a report will be published soon.