Zakopane, a town deep in the Tatra Mountains and the largest ski resort in Poland is presently facing heavy fines from the Polish Customs Chamber after recently advertising a French online sportsbook “Bet-at-home” despite the fact that Polish online gambling is unregulated and it has established a ban on offshore gambling sites.
The “Bet-at-home” name and logo appeared on the banners hung around the Wielka Kroskiew ski jumping venue during the recent FIS Ski Jumping World Cup events held in Zakopane on 22nd and 23rd January 2010 and also appeared on the contestants’ uniforms. Zakopane now stands a chance of being fined as much as 3,000,000 euro.
Lech Nadarkiewicz, the organizer of the World Cup events in Zakopane said “If we pay the fine, not only won’t the World Cup bring any profit, but it will make losses.”
The laws regarding internet gambling in Poland, as in many other countries in eastern Europe, is in a state of uncertainty at present and there are no Polish internet gambling sites operating whilst the government is not yet in a position to license operators.
With so many Polish people enjoy gambling online regularly the Polish government has come to realize that there is a lot of money to be made by regulating online gambling and are looking into a regulatory platform for licensing in the country.
Land based casinos in Poland are also fighting for the right to advertise their services on the internet.
Meanwhile, the Tatry skiing Association claims that the advertising contract with the French Gambling Company was signed before the law changed and “Bet-at-home” claims that Poland’s new gambling laws violate EU free trade standards. Poland will in all probability be fined for its’ restrictive actions.