Camelot launches legal action against the UK Gambling Commission

Camelot launches legal action against the UK Gambling Commission - Banner
Charlie Vogelsang
by Charlie Vogelsang Last updated:

The current National Lottery provider strikes back against the Gambling Commission

It's been a tough couple of months for Camelot as they have been fined £3.15 million by the Gambling Commission and lost the lottery licence to Allwyn Entertainment Ltd. In response to all of this news, Camelot has decided to take the decision to the High Court.

The case will be against the Gambling Commission and was officially announced on the 1st of April 2022. This comes after the Gambling Commission announced on the 15th of March 2022 that Camelot would no longer provide the National Lottery Licence for the first time since 1994.

CEO of Camelot speaks

The CEO of Camelot, Nigel Railton, released a statement on the topic and said: "We are launching a legal challenge today in our capacity as an applicant for the Fourth Licence because we firmly believe that the Gambling Commission has got this decision badly wrong. When we received the result, we were shocked by aspects of the decision."

"Despite lengthy correspondence, the Commission has failed to provide a satisfactory response. We are therefore left with no choice but to ask the court to establish what happened."

“Irrespective of Camelot's dual roles as current operator and applicant for the next National Lottery licence, the competition is one of the largest UK government-sponsored procurements and the process deserves independent scrutiny," said Railton. "Separately, more than 1,000 Camelot employees work tirelessly to successfully operate The National Lottery under the current licence and, at the very least, they are owed a proper explanation."

A response from the Gambling Commission

In response to this, the Gambling Commission released its own statement which read: "The selection of a Preferred Applicant follows a fair, open and robust competition which received four applications at the final stage. This is the highest number of applications since the first National Lottery licence was awarded in 1994."

They added: "We are confident that we have run a fair and robust competition. We have taken every step possible to ensure a level playing field for all interested parties, to enable us to appoint a licensee who will engage and protect players, run the National Lottery with integrity and ensure the National Lottery continues to support good causes and their contribution to society."

The Gambling Commission concluded by stating that their priority is to work for a seamless and timely transaction for the next licence. They concluded that: "We trust that Camelot will honour its obligations as the current licensee to cooperate in that transition, and we will continue to use the tools available to us to facilitate that process."