BETTING KENYA Kenya gambling regulator blocks SportPesa betting site’s return 3 years ago Szarlot Post Views: 644 Kenyan sports betting operator SportPesa’s triumphant return to its home market has been rudely disrupted by the local gambling regulator. On Friday, SportPesa’s official social media feeds enthusiastically proclaimed that the company was once again free to accept Kenyan bettors’ action thanks to the transfer of its brand name to a new locally licensed bookmaker, Milestone Games Ltd, about which precious little is known. The excitement didn’t last long, as Kenyan media reported Saturday that Cyrus Maina, chairman of Kenya’s Betting Control and Licensing Board (BCLB), had written a letter to Milestone operations manager Bernard Chauro on Friday prohibiting Milestone from using the SportPesa brand. Maina told Chauro that there was – “a variance in the trade name the board approved vis-à-vis the name Milestone Games Limited currently wishes to adopt.” Maina noted that Milestone had been granted authority to use the SportPesa brand by Sportpesa Global Holdings. However, Maina claimed that the SportPesa trade name is the property of M/s Pevans East Africa Limited, which shares directors with SportPesa Global Holdings but has filed an appeal with the Nairobi Court of Appeal contesting “the issuance of the gaming license to Pevans East Africa t/a SportPesa.” The irony here is high, as the appeal was filed in mid-2019 after the BCLB revoked SportPesa’s betting license due to the heavy-handed crackdown on dozens of betting operators by the Kenya Revenue Authority over disputed back-tax claims. SportPesa’s license appeal won’t be heard until November 16 and thus Maina said Milestone is prohibited from using the SportPesa trade name, as well as the online betting domains under which the relaunched SportPesa had been operating and the pay bills through which the sites are processing online betting transactions. The BCLB appears to have been irked by Milestone’s decision to operate under a different brand name than the one for which it was issued a license, as well as choosing to do so without notifying the BCLB or seeking its sapproval. The BCLB said Milestone is free to operate under its own domains, although the Milestonebet.co.ke domain currently displays only a ‘coming soon’ splash screen. The ke.sportpesa.com domain appears unchanged from Friday and SportPesa Kenya’s official Twitter feed has yet to acknowledge any issues with its operations. Source: calvinaire.com About Post Author Szarlot I am a fan of casino games especially roulette and blackjack. After that I analyze current events in the gambling industry. See author's posts SzarlotI am a fan of casino games especially roulette and blackjack. After that I analyze current events in the gambling industry. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Print Tags: betting, Kenya, SportPesa Continue Reading Previous SportPesa Replaced by Betsafe as Kenya’s Football SponsorNext ODIBETS More Stories BETTING SOUTH AFRICA Nolimit City Celebrates South Africa Debut 22 hours ago Samuel BETTING GR8 Tech enters long-term partnership with Mojabet 22 hours ago Szarlot BETTING KENYA Odibets unveils Sh5m sponsorship for Kenya Women 3X3 basketball team 3 days ago Szarlot EXPERTS KENYA Tappi expands services across Africa beyond Kenya and Nigeria 3 days ago Samuel KENYA ONLINE iGaming’s Global Growth: From Africa to North America 3 days ago Szarlot KENYA ONLINE Kenya’s Blockchain Association Makes Plea for Detained Binance Executives 3 days ago Samuel BETTING NIGERIA Seun Kuti criticizes Nigerian elites over youths sleeping in betting shops 4 days ago Samuel BETTING KENYA Kayole Matatu Driver Newest Millionaire in Town After Winning KSh 3.4m 7 days ago Samuel BETTING NIGERIA Reps to organise public hearing on age limit for betting 1 week ago Samuel BETTING NIGERIA BetKing Renews Commitment To Ikorodu City FC 1 week ago Szarlot EXPERTS KENYA The impact of Kenya’s Gambling Control Bill 1 week ago Samuel KENYA ONLINE Love For The Screens As African Gamers Hit 186 Million 1 week ago Szarlot Leave a Reply Cancel replyYour email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment * Name * Email * Website Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.