Court declares that advertising activities of Bwin in Portugal are illegal

Consequently, all advertising activities of Bwin are banned in the country, among them, the sponsorship of “Taça da Liga” (Football League), currently named “Taça Bwin”.

The infringement to these regulations will put Bwin under a mandatory pecuniary penalty, for which it should have to pay 50,000 euros a day, if the mentioned infringement is maintained.  A possible appeal from Bwin would not be able to suspend the decision of the Court, unless there is a guarantee, whose accumulated value is very high, considering the daily value of the so-called sanction.

The decision that the Court has just determined concludes with a legal battle that started in 2005 by the Portuguese Casino Associations (APC) and by the licensees, sponsored by the Lawyers Society P.L.M.J.,when they required a precautionary measure against Bwin, with the aim to achieve the suspension of the sponsorship contract between this online gaming operator and the Portuguese Professional Football League.

At the end of 2006, Porto Relation Court considered that Bwin gaming offer was illegal in Portugal, and that sponsorship contracts between the firm and the Football League were illegal, but decided not to order the suspension of this sponsorship activity, considering that the damages derived from this activity were not irreparable, due to Bwin capacity to compensate the damages caused.

This first result was not considered enough, so APC and its associates decided to establish, in 2007, the process that now concludes with this decision, which declares the nullity of the sponsorship contract held between Bwin and the LPFP, sentencing Bwin and the League not to execute the so called sponsorship contract, and sentencing the online gaming operator not to advertise in Portugal.

In the course of the process, there was even a chance to demand the intervention of the Court of Justice of the European Union, which in 2010 decided, by full comformity of the Portuguese legislation and its Community Law that, consequently, allowed to establish the illegality of Bwin activities in Portugal.