The European Court of Justice will today hear oral arguments on the case brought by Bwin and the Portuguese Football League against Portugal’s main national lottery Santa Casa da Misericórdia. At issue is Bwin’s appeal against a fine for violating Portuguese advertising regulations through its sponsorship of the football league, but observers are expecting the eventual outcome of the case to resonate throughout Europe.

Voicing concerns over the player protection risks associated with internet gambling, the Advocate General in a high-profile ECJ case said that a state monopoly in online sports betting is not invalidated where an EU member state allows private companies to operate in other gambling sectors such as land-based casinos and slot machines.

Upon the judges’ specific invitation, participants at this week’s public European Court of Justice hearing on Bwin and the Portuguese Football League’s challenge to the betting monopoly held by Portugal’s Santa Casa agreed that EU Member States must be consistent in their application of restrictive gambling policies. However, representatives from all but Bwin were adamant that the critical ‘consistency requirement’ must be applied as narrowly as possibly, and not across sub-sectors of the gambling industry.

Portugal’s restrictive advertising codes are set to be scrutinised by the European Court of Justice.

National lottery operator Santa Casa has confirmed its intentions to pursue legal action against further private betting operators active in Portugal following yesterday’s landmark European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) will hand down its long-awaited decision on Bwin’s challenge to the Portuguese sports betting monopoly in early September.

Yesterday’s Advocate General opinion in the ‘Bwin Liga’ ECJ case scrutinising Portugal’s Santa Casa sports betting monopoly has highlighted the obligation of EU member states to notify all legislation involving internet gambling to the European Commission in Brussels prior to bringing their laws into formal effect.

A crucial opinion in the case to determine the legality of Bwin’s sponsorship of the Portugal’s Football League has been postponed.

Although Santa Casa's most popular product remains Euromillions, the operator has recently revealed it has collected bets for €1.29bn in 2008, 5.3 percent less than 2007 (€1.363bn). This noticeable drop in revenues is blamed on the current economic crisis.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) decision on Portugal’s ‘Bwin Liga’ case due next Tuesday is eagerly anticipated by online gaming operators across Europe, on both sides of the sector’s private/state monopoly divide.