Sazka appoints Lord Sebastian Coe to board amid National Lottery bid

The Czech lottery giant Sazka has made another high profile appointment as it aims to strengthen its bid for the British National Lottery.

UK.- Sazka, the Czech lottery giant bidding to run the UK’s National Lottery, has appointed Lord Sebastian Coe to its board as its first independent non-executive director.

Sazka’s new UK brand Allwyn is participating in the tender for the licence to run the UK National Lottery from 2024. It was the first company to announce its bid for what will be the fourth National Lottery licence. The company has made several high-profile appointments, including David Craven as chief executive and Sir Keith Mills as bid chair.

Coe is a two-time Olympic gold medalist in the 1500m and took part in London’s successful bid to host the 2012 Olympics along with Mills. He has served as the president of World Athletics since 2015 and also served as a Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) from 1992 until 1997.

Coe said: “Over the years I’ve seen the tremendous benefit lottery funds have brought to grassroots and elite sport across the globe. I’m looking forward to joining a team with a proven track record of supporting sport at all levels in the countries where it operates.”

Karel Komárek, chairman of Sazka’s board, said: “Lord Coe has been a colossal figure on the world stage of sport, politics and business through his long and distinguished career.

“He brings tremendous additional strength to our international perspective as we strive to maximise the raising of funds for good causes in all of the markets we serve.”

The Gambling Commission has extended the National Lottery tender process and now plans to announce the winner in February 2022. The current incumbent, Camelot, has had its licence extended until February 2024.