Court revokes lotteries injunction

Government may go ahead and allocate a renewed 10-year operating licence to Maltco Lotteries, after the courts revoked a temporary prohibitory injunction against the finance ministry and the Lotteries and Gaming Authority, which declared it is only granting the operator exclusivity on the Super 5, Lotto and National Lottery games.

In a judgement handed by Mr Justice Joseph Zammit McKeon, it was explained that the court was revoking the injunction after hearing finance minister Tonio Fenech and Gaming Authority chief executive Reuben Portanier declare under oath that Maltco's licence was to be granted according to the specifications listed in the original call for tender and clarification document.

Testifying last Tuesday, both Fenech and Portanier said that Maltco's operating licence will see it enjoy exclusivity on only three games: the Super 5 lottery, the weekly Lotto draw and the National Lottery.

"The statement under oath by both minister Tonio Fenech and LGA chief executive Reuben Portanier was clear and unequivocal," the court said in its judgement.

The court also took note of submissions put forward by Betco Holdings which stated that it was not interested in halting the concession agreement with Maltco, but wanted to protect its future commercial interests by ensuring Maltco is not granted any further exclusive rights other than those made clear in the call for tender and clarification document.

In its judgement, the Court said that once government and the LGA had made it clear that Maltco will not be enjoying any further exclusive rights other than the three lotteries indicated in the call for tender, it was also satisfied to hear that Betco Holdings would not suffer any prejudice on future commercial interests as betting will no longer be exclusive to Maltco.