BIRN: Government set to reinstate online sports betting, criticized for lack of transparency

When the Albanian government finalized the ban on gambling in 2019, the official narrative promised to uproot a social problem that had spread to virtually every street in Albania. At the time, there was hardly a neighborhood without two or three betting shops, some of them located near schools or areas frequented by minors.

Seven years later, the Albanian government is preparing to legalize online sports betting once again, which, despite legal restrictions, has continued to operate informally.

Following the approval of the law in Parliament in 2024, the Ministry of Finance told BIRN that all bylaws have now been approved and that the regulatory framework is considered complete.

“The system is legally ready, but the licensing process has not yet officially opened,” the ministry said in a written response.

The new legislation provides for no more than 10 licenses for operators offering online platforms, with the key requirement that these operators freeze capital of at least 120 million lekë as a guarantee for winners and have proven experience in Western countries.

Although the law promises a limited online betting market in order to enable strict state monitoring, the process has raised concerns over a lack of transparency and the risk of creating a monopoly market.

At the same time, Albania is reopening the betting industry largely unprepared to manage the inevitable crisis of gambling addiction – one of the main reasons why the industry was temporarily pushed outside the legal framework.

Moving gambling from physical betting shops to mobile phone screens turns it into a risk with unlimited access, 24 hours a day, in everyone’s pocket.

“Legalization does not create addiction, but it increases access to an activity that is potentially very dangerous for part of the population,” said psychiatrist Neli Demi, who pointed out that the country has no specialized center and no national rehabilitation program, leaving the burden of treating addiction entirely on families.

In response to BIRN’s questions, the Ministry of Finance said that preventing gambling addiction and protecting players and their families were among the main objectives of the law, but acknowledged that the legislation does not establish any specific scheme for these individuals.

Licensing questions

Albania’s gambling sector has swung between uncontrolled liberalization and radical prohibition. The complete closure in 2019, as part of the so-called “End of Madness” operation, pushed out of the legal framework a market that operated with more than 4,000 physical betting shops.

However, the legal ban did not eliminate gambling. Instead, it pushed the activity underground, into informality and under the control of criminal networks, where neighborhood cafés were transformed into secret gathering points.

The entry into force of the new law is seen as an opportunity to bring the sector out of illegality, although criticism has emerged over the government’s lack of transparency surrounding the competitive licensing process.

The tender has not yet been opened. The Ministry of Finance said that “the decision to open the competition must be taken by the Licensing Commission,” and only after the commission issues its decision will AMLF publish the official notice for applications.

Endri Meksi, a businessman who has been involved in the formalization of the gambling sector for years, estimates that the black betting market generates around €2.5 billion in annual turnover and that bringing it into the formal economy could generate approximately €20–22 million per year for the state budget.

However, Meksi is frustrated by the lack of institutional communication and by the fact that there is still no clarity about what will happen.

“The Minister of Finance is completely absent from this whole story; he does not comment on anything,” Meksi said, pointing to the uncertainty over the number of licenses that will initially be issued.

“The Licensing Commission is the body that decides and can open a competition for a maximum of 10 licenses, but it could also open a competition for a single license. In that case, we would have a monopoly. It could open it for three, let’s say, and that would be almost an oligopoly,” Meksi added.

Opposition representatives also believe that the formal legal framework is concealing the core of a deeply clientelist scheme.

According to Democratic Party MP Jorida Tabaku, the law was approved before the state was genuinely prepared to implement it. Tabaku believes the entire scheme was designed to serve the interests of the government and individuals connected to it.

“The problem is not simply the existence of online betting. The problem is who will receive the licenses, how the beneficial ownership of the companies will be verified, the real source of capital, the connections between shareholders, and whether the competitive procedure will be open,” Tabaku emphasized, adding that without transparency, it creates “the ground where clientelist interests, suspicious capital and government decision-making can meet.”

For opposition lawmakers, the mechanism for controlling this phenomenon, which creates social problems, “must be under full parliamentary and public oversight from day one.”

Alarm bells over addiction

Although the new law was supposed to create mechanisms to prevent gambling addiction, bettors now appear set to have their betting shop with them at all times.

Mental health experts see this as a risk of increased, uncontrolled addiction in a country where treatment infrastructure for such cases is virtually nonexistent.

Psychiatrist and psychotherapist Neli Demi warns that the shift exclusively online plays a much more dangerous role compared with physical betting shops.

“From a clinical perspective, moving from a physical betting shop to a mobile phone changes the nature of exposure. Previously, you had to leave home and go to a betting shop, which created a certain degree of psychological ‘friction’. Now gambling can be in your pocket 24 hours a day,” Demi emphasizes.

According to him, this increases the frequency of gambling, encourages impulsivity—as bets can be placed within seconds—and reduces social control from the family, a serious risk factor, particularly for young people who are deeply connected to their devices.

Demi also emphasizes that the country lacks an organized system for treating such cases.

“We do not have specialized centers for gambling addiction, we do not have national rehabilitation programs, and most patients are treated within general mental health services or in private practice. This means that help exists, but it is fragmented and insufficient,” he added.

Demi considers some legal measures, such as the electronic register for player self-exclusion, to be positive steps, but regards them as minimal.

The Ministry, for its part, insists that addiction will be addressed through the legal mechanisms provided for under the law. In outlining the protective measures, the institution says that, alongside the national electronic register of excluded players, the law guarantees “player self-exclusion” and allows “family members to request that a person’s access to gambling be blocked,” supported by new programs dedicated to player protection.

The Ministry also claims that “operators are required to publish information about the risks of addiction, the actual chances of winning, and the structures that provide counseling or treatment for people experiencing gambling-related problems.” However, this appears to exist largely on paper, as such counseling structures are almost nonexistent in the country.

“KORÇA BOOM”