Greece gambling monopoly threatened by William Hill

William Hill has announced that it will be applying for a licence to run betting shops in Greece , considering that recent ECJ decisions are favourable on the basis of the free movement of services and freedom of establishment under EU law.

Greek gambling monopoly, OPAP, has a monopoly to operate sports betting in Greece until 2020, but in 2006, the company’s CEO, Basile Neiadas, said the loss of the monopoly was not a threat but an opportunity. “The liberalization of the European market means that, instead of having a market of 10.5 million people, we will have of 350 million.”