Ladbrokes has confirmed that they will not be operating for much longer in one European country. There have been mutterings for some time now about Poland regulating the country’s sports betting market. An email that we have been able to get procure seems to confirm that Poland’s new Gambling Act will come into effect from July 2011. The legislation only allows companies to operate if they have a Polish license meaning that it counts Ladbrokes out.
The email sent out to affiliates by Ladbrokes yesterday reads as follows:
Dear Affiliate,
At the start of July 2011 a new Gambling Act will come into operation in Poland. The new legislation allows for sports betting under a Polish licence only. Ladbrokes Betting and Gaming operates under alicence granted by a European Union country and will therefore not be applying for a Polish license.
As a result of not applying for a license, we are for the present time unable to continue taking bets and registrations from players with a Polish IP address and/or those who have their country of residence as Poland. Please be aware that we are therefore shutting our site to new registrations within Poland with immediate effect.
We are communicating directly with all existing players who would be affected by this, asking them to withdraw all funds from their Ladbrokes account.
With regards to any affiliate commissions due on any of the above player accounts, we will be settling payments by the 20th July 2011.
We are happy to continue working with you on any other traffic that you send through.
Regards, The Ladbrokes Affiliate Team
It remains to be seen if any of the other gambling firms follow suit and also if the Lads decide to apply for a Polish license
