Ugandan bettors lose millions to illegal gaming site
Youth look at fixtures at a sports betting centre in Arua District in 2019. PHOTO/FILE
What you need to know:
- In April, lawmakers on the Committee on Finance suggested that government considers banning sports betting during the day as a means of encouraging productivity and creativity among the population.
Bettors in Uganda have lost an estimate of over Sh500m to an illegal betting site that has been using the gaming activities as a strategy to market its membership on the different online platforms, government has said.
State for Finance-General Duties, Mr Henry Musasizi said Friday that a forensic investigation into the activities of BLQ football Uganda revealed that it has been operating illegally and fleeced unsuspecting Ugandans millions of shillings as they made wagers.
Other estimates based on the transactions on the BLQ platforms suggest that the bettors in the East African nation lost more than Shs60 billion.
However, Mr Musasizi told journalists in Kampala that government is still trying to establish the exact amount lost by the victims, mostly unemployed youths who have resorted to betting as the alternative means for survive in a country experiencing high youth unemployment rates.
According to the minister, the BLQ sports SMC limited trading as BLQ Football Uganda had attracted close to 6,000 members to its online platforms.
Mr Musasizi said the company owned by one Mary Owori is registered with Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) but not licensed by the gaming board.
“Now that we know that the company is registered by URSB, we are going to trace it from there. We have already closed it but further investigations are going to be done because we have to look at the possibility of recovering part or full amount of money,” Mr Musasizi said.
The acting chief executive officer National Lotteries and Gaming Board Mr Denis Mudene Ngabirano said several other other companies like Crown Football Uganda, E-Cairo football and UGFootball are also operating illegally both physical and online and asking Ugandans to invest huge sums of money with promise of exceptional returns.
“It is actually not BLQ only, we have also identified Crown Football Uganda, E-Cairo football and UGFootball. We have already notified UCC (Uganda Communications Commission) to take action,”Mr Ngabirano said.
“As a gaming board we had to quickly come out to stop this given that you cannot carry out betting activities in Uganda without getting a license from the gaming board,” Mr Ngabirano said.
Background
In April, lawmakers on the Committee on Finance suggested that government considers banning sports betting during the day as a means of encouraging productivity and creativity among the population.
Kabula County MP, Mr Enos Asiimwe while interfacing with the Lotteries and Gaming Regulatory Board (LGRB), suggested that the activity be only permitted after working hours.
Mr Ngabirano then said they plan to introduce an electric monitoring system that will, among others, close gaps exploited by illicit gamblers.
