Arjan van ‘t Veer, Secretary General of the European Lotteries and Toto Association (EL), comments: “The CJEU has clearly recognised that an exclusive concessionaire model, as chosen by the Italian legislator, is legitimate in order to promote responsible management of the lottery . The judgment points to the particularities of our sector where restrictions can be put in place in the general interest and which must be kept free from companies that have been referred to a criminal court. EL welcomes the confirmation in this ruling.” The CJEU further confirmed that a high basic contract value for such a concession is acceptable and stated that severe conditions to access the market can be imposed. Notably, a company can be excluded if it has been referred to criminal court for a related matter. The ruling further confirms that other games similar to lotto without the specific authorisation can be prohibited as a means to fight illegal gambling, which is a legitimate policy objective.

According to the NLC chairperson Professor Alfred Nevhutanda, illegal lotteries are robbing good causes of valuable support from the Commission. Nevhutanda said that illegal lotteries are debilitating the potential of the NLC to support good causes and that it’s time for all stakeholders to work together to solve this scourge. Nevhutanda said a joint task force, including the SA Police Service, has already been established and would like to see the NLC being given the mandate to “declare war” on those impinging on the National Lottery. “It is my plea that the Department of Trade and Industry gives us teeth to bite,” said Nevhutanda