EUROPEAN STATE LOTTERIES AND TOTO ASSOCIATION

Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear friends,
If any evidence was still required to document
the necessity of EL’s presence on
site at Brussels, then evidence has been
supplied in an impressive manner during
the last months. The discussion about
the financing and the integrity of sport,
the debate under the EU Trade Barrier
Regulation on the blocking of internet
gambling in the U.S., the new attitude of
the EU Commission towards the infringement
procedures, the increasingly organized,
joint preparation for the discussions
within the Council and with the Commission,
all these matters have been accompanied
very closely by our representation
in Brussels. The organization of games of
chance in the EU is no longer a question
which is discussed merely within the Directorate-General
“Internal Market and
Services”. The direct and indirect effects
on the sport, on the social institutions, on
the prevention of money laundering and
fraud are now concerns for Directorates-
General. We as European Lotteries have
substantially contributed to this.
We have succeeded more clearly than
before in illustrating that and why staterun
gambling operators are different
from commercial operators. This “we are
different” had mostly been regarded as
thesis. We are now able to prove that and
why we are different.
This discussion had started with the keyword
“integrity of sport”. In nearly all
kinds of sports, especially soccer, it becomes
more and more obvious that the
typology of the betting offers does not
only exert considerable influence on the
behaviour of the betters, but involves severe
dangers for the reputation and the
integrity of the sport and the athletes.
Message from the President
The risk potential of certain live bets cannot
and must not be toned-down. The big
sports organisations took up the matter.
With our sports betting monitoring programme,
with the Matchinfo activities,
the herein committed EL Members make
an important contribution under the umbrella
of EL. The decisions of the General
Assembly in Cyprus give us the mandate
and the creative power for further development.
It is absolutely essential.
Not only in Europe, but also worldwide is
responsible gaming a commitment which
has concrete, observable consequences.
This must be valid particularly in Europe,
where the legal debates on the organisation
of the gambling sector are carried out
as virulently as on no other continent.
In this context, we always talk as well
about facts and figures. That the figures
are speaking in our favour is not a question
of belief but a provable fact. It is
therefore a matter of great importance
that we as European Association are able
to deliver quickly reliable data to the European
institutions for their work. If it is
not us, who else could be able to provide
information about the gambling sector,
where so many misunderstandings subsist?
For this reason, in this Panorama
edition I would like to recommend warmly
the ELISE report to you. And I want to
emphasize once again how important it is
that the basic factors are collected by us
– not to gain an advantage in the competition,
but to supply the responsible persons
in our countries with the orientation
data for their decisions.
Even if our General Assembly at Limassol
could only be short, it has taken important
decisions which are pointing the way
and has thereby taken up aspects which
had been prepared during the “Industry
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P AN RAMA
Days” Conference. At this point, I would
like to cordially thank once again our
industrial partners as well as our host,
the Cyprus Government Lottery, in the
name of all participants. Now we have to
make the best of the next months to set
the course for the congress at Istanbul in
June 2009.
The concept of two EL locations, Brussels
and Lausanne, has proved to be
worthwhile. To communicate better than
ever before the results of our actions to
our Members remains the challenge that
we will rise to for the future.
Cordially yours
Winfried Wortmann
President