The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) has hit out at the “sluggish” process of allocating licences for sports betting operators in Germany and called for tougher regulatory controls to be introduced to ensure the terms of the Interstate Treaty of Gambling are enforced.

The latest version of the treaty, designed to allow private providers to accept sports wagers as part of a partial liberalisation of the German gambling industry, came into force on July 1, 2012 after the government came under pressure from the European Court of Justice to alter its approach.

Under the terms of the treaty, the market is open to a maximum of 20 sports betting providers for a period of seven years, but no companies have been awarded a licence by the government so far.

“The procedure selected by federal state leaders to issue the 20 sports betting licenses does not meet European requirements,” EGBA stated.

“It has failed to provide candidates with clear, transparent and reliable information concerning the tender criteria to be used.

“This has led to numerous lawsuits by providers and several postponements of licence awards by the administration. It remains unclear when exactly the licenses will be granted, and even the authorities expect up to 80 proceedings, involving both unsuccessful applicants and licence holders. In addition, online poker and casino providers are not part of the limited market opening, despite the fact that this segment constitutes a much larger market portion than sports betting.”

EGBA believes that concerns about Germany’s implementation of the treaty can only be resolved if the regulatory approach is completely revised or if the tender procedure is re-launched.