Sportingbet to appeal Codere injunction
Operator's Spanish sites shut down by court injunction yesterday " says there is "no legal basis" for Codere's actions.
Sportingbet has moved to dismiss an injunction brought by local gambling company Codere to shut down the operator’s Spanish-facing sites, describing the move as “a blatant attempt to disrupt the market”.
The injunction was originally introduced as one of a series against European operators, including PokerStars, on the basis of unfair competition due to the operators offering their services in Spain without having to pay tax on their activities.
Though Sportingbet has been paying tax since June last year, Madrid’s Commercial Court granted an injunction on the basis that by operating before being awarded a licence, the company was operating in the market illegally. This resulted in Sportingbet’s Miapuesta.com and dot.es sites being shut down before the company paid a 2m bond to have them reactivated pending an appeal in February.
However, as the injunction has been upheld by the court, the sites have once again been blocked, forcing the company to launch another appeal.
In a statement released yesterday, the UK operator confirmed its intention to appeal: “Sportingbet is filing an appeal against Codere’s claim having received advice that there is no legal basis for the action.
“This is supported by the decisions of other Spanish courts to reject Codere’s applications for injunctions against other companies in the Spanish online betting and gaming sector,” the statement explained.
However, Cristina Romero de Alba of Loyra Abogados – a law firm which has worked with Codere, though not on the Sportingbet case – who has written a blog explaining Codere’s stance for eGR, explained that Codere’s injunction was a move to ensure the law was properly upheld:
“The case has been structured as an unfair competition case, because Codere believe that the market cannot open under circumstances where there is a huge difference between operators that have been present in the market without a licence and have advertised and gathered client data, and those that have refrained from carrying out such activities.
“There is a general principle of prohibition, so this situation shouldn’t be used in favour of operators who have disregarded Spanish regulation, to the detriment of operators with regional licences who were unable to take part in any online activities,” Romero said.
A similar case brought against PokerStars was dismissed by a Barcelona court in January on the basis that the company was able to offer services in Spain due to the fact it holds an Isle of Man egaming licence, a ruling dismissed by Romero as “striking, because it essentially misinterprets EU priciples, Spanish law and the European Court of Justice’s jurisprudence.”
Sportingbet concluded that despite the ongoing case, it expects to be granted a licence by 25 May, despite the disruption caused by the departure of Spanish deputy general director of gaming Juan Carlos Alfonso Rubio this month.