CORRECTED – Albania delays [not approves] lifting ban on online sports betting

In the first paragraph, please read “The Albanian parliament said it has approved postponement of voting on regulatory changes..." instead of "The Albanian parliament said it has approved regulatory changes..." Please note that paragraphs two, three and four have also been amended to comply.

A corrected version follows:

The Albanian parliament said it has approved postponement of voting on regulatory changes to lift the ban on online sports betting, which was implemented five years ago along with a complete prohibition on gambling.

A postponement request by head of the socialist parliamentary group Bledi Cuci was endorsed by all 75 lawmakers present, the parliament said in a statement on Thursday.

The economy ministry is proposing to lift the ban on online sports betting in an attempt to halt its spread in the illicit market, the economy ministry has said in documents.

Only 10 companies with previous experience in the betting industry would be licensed.

In 2018, Albania's parliament voted to remove gambling from residential areas to limit its spread. However, many of the shops have continued to operate in secret.

Prior to the ban, sports betting was mainly carried out in café chains owned by three licensed companies. It was a very popular leisure activity in the country, with a total of 4,214 sports bets cafes in the Albanian territory in 2018.

Before the ban, official figures showed that Albanians used to spend up to 150 million euro ($161 million) annually on sports betting. However, if illegal bets are included, the number rises to 700 million euro.

(1 euro = $1.08)