In Greece in 2023, 900 thousand of our fellow citizens played in illegal gaming networks, 1.7 billion euros were trafficked, while 10% of these players are between 17 and 21 years old, so they are addicted to illegality. A large majority of players feel that they are losing out by being involved with illegals and also that they are afraid of the consequences of the illegality they are participating in. These are some of the impressive findings from Kapa Research’s survey of over 5,000 people conducted on behalf of the Gambling Regulatory Commission (GRC) last month.

The data were presented by the Director General of the E.E.E.P. Mr. Dimitris Papadopoulos, who also analyzed the actions taken by the Commission to limit this illegal phenomenon, which is growing impressively in the country.

The presentation was made at a conference of the Hellenic Gaming Association (HGA) in collaboration with CLEON Conferences & Communications, organized in a central location in Athens and coordinated by the journalist Mr. Vangelis Mandravelis.

The event was attended by the Deputy Minister of Finance, Mr. Haris Theocharis, who pointed out that the illegal gambling has grown dangerously and asked the participating State and market agencies to prepare specific proposals to deal with it, which the Deputy Minister will undertake to implement.

The conference was opened by the President of the EEEP, Mr. Dimitris Tzanatos, who emphasized that illegal gambling finds a wider field of action due to the market conditions, while he proposed to create a new body, which will be attended by representatives of prosecutorial authorities, police, banking system, scientific staff and market players, in order to act quickly and with the aim of persuading players to avoid illegal networks, from which only losers come out.

The President of HGA, Mr. Christos Panagopoulos, analyzed the social, economic and criminal consequences of players’ participation in illegal betting and requested greater awareness of the issue from the State, as, among other things, illegality increases the phenomenon of altering results in Sports.

From the market side they spoke:

Mr. Thomas Tzokas, CEO of winmasters, who mentioned during his speech the problem of illegal gambling in Greece. He pointed out the extent of the problem and its economic and social consequences.

It referred to categories of illegal gambling, including illegal clubs, bookmakers, illegal betting and casino websites, and networks of personal data. He also described how illegal online betting companies thrive.

Mr. Marios Lefkaritis, Country Manager of Interwetten, who explained the way in which the illegals “fish” their customers, how they escape from the supervisory controls and how they traffic the money that ends up in exotic countries.

Ms. Sevi Ponti, Country Manager of NetBet, analyzed with many examples the way illegals are advertised on the large networks META, Google, how illegal advertising sites are not properly managed, but also the involvement of certain influencers in this circle.

A discussion followed, in which it was pointed out that the impunity of those involved in the illegal game directly or indirectly makes them more brazen as the profits for all involved are very high.

In an intervention, the representative of the Bank of Greece, Mr. Tzermiadianos, explained why it is very difficult to trace the flow of transactions and that international cooperation of many agencies is needed.

The General Secretary of Sports, Mr. Giorgos Mavrotas, then gave the speech, who analyzed the action of the E.P.ATHLA, a pan-European mechanism that attempts to control, among other activities, attempts to change results and fixed matches in sports.

He pointed out how necessary the cooperation of many agencies is, as international experience shows, in such a complex environment of lawlessness that traffics 1 trillion. euros worldwide.

The former president of the EPO, Mr. Sofoklis Pilavios, Lawyer, CAS Arbitrator, stated that the key word is cooperation, however, the fight against illegal betting also requires the active participation of the sports movement itself, through the jurisdictional bodies of the national and international federations .

He also cited examples of countries where teams suspected of being involved in match-fixing had their points deducted by the relevant football authorities more than three times.

This was followed by the Brigadier General, Director of Electronic Crime Prosecution of the Hellenic Police, Mr. Vasilios Papakostas, and Mr. Dimitris Tsertsidis, First Police Officer of the Greek Police, Economic Police, who were particularly enlightening, on the ways that illegal networks use in order not to be detected but also to transfer large amounts through cryptocurrencies and intangible wallets using all sophisticated technological means such as the dark internet etc.

Also, the representatives of the Police referred to the ways they identify the illegals, having the right to open bank accounts, telephone communications, and using sophisticated police methods in cooperation with Interpol. Of course, they did not fail to emphasize that cooperation with the rest of the institutional bodies and the market is necessary as illegality always finds new ways to escape from the law.

Finally, the lawyer Mr. Yiannis Voskopoulos emphasized that with the help of the prosecution authorities, if there is the will, natural persons who either commit illegal acts or represent illegal gaming companies can be identified and brought to justice.

The day was closed by the Chief Compliance and Information, Security Officer of Novibet, Mr. Panagiotis Skyrlas, who referred to the problems that intensify the phenomenon of illegal gambling, such as the overtaxation of legitimate companies, that licensed providers cannot offer services to people under 18 21 years old and that players can feel safe when they choose the legitimate companies, which have strict regulations to protect them.

Here are the survey tables from Kapa Research of the conference:

PAPADOPOULOS EEEP 2024

Dimitrios Dzanatos_President of EEEP, Presentation of Anti-illegal Betting HGA

SEVI PONTI_ConferencePPT_S.Ponti

Mavrotas- Illegal Betting HGA Mar 2024