GAMING IN SUDAN

ABOUT SUDAN

Sudan, country located in northeastern Africa. The name Sudan derives from the Arabic expression bilād al-sūdān (“land of the blacks”), by which medieval Arab geographers referred to the settled African countries that began at the southern edge of the Sahara. For more than a century, Sudan—first as a colonial holding, then as an independent country—included its neighbour South Sudan, home to many sub-Saharan African ethnic groups. Prior to the secession of the south in 2011, Sudan was the largest African country, with an area that represented more than 8 percent of the African continent and almost 2 percent of the world’s total land area.

BRIEFLY ABOUT THE ECONOMY OF SUDAN

Sudan is one of the poorest and least-developed countries in the world, with about one-third of its inhabitants dependent on farming and animal husbandry for their livelihoods. Though its role in the economy has declined in the decades since independence, agriculture still accounts for about one-third of Sudan’s gross domestic product (GDP). Oil production began in the late 1990s, and petroleum quickly became the country’s most important export.

GAMBLING IN SUDAN

As in nearly all of the Arabic countries, gambling in Sudan is prohibited under Islamic Shari’a Law. In Sudan, gambling restrictions and punishments for gambling are laid down in the so called Public Order Laws, that date back to 1983. They were referred to back then as the September Laws, imposed by the authoritarian regime of President Jafaar Numeiri. He introduced Shari’a corporal punishments (hudud) for acts such as consuming alcohol, stealing, the mixing between sexes and also gambling.

The new regime, that took over the country in 1989 in a military coup, introduced it’s own Public Order Laws in an attempt to create an Islamic State in Sudan*. The new laws upheld and even widened the scope of restrictions. Corporal punishment is widely used even to this date in Sudan for so called moral offences, which include gambling as well. The punishment is usually carried out in public and it entails 40 to 100 whip lashes for minor offences, like gambling.

CASINO GAMBLING IN SUDAN

All forms of gambling are prohibited in Sudan and so is playing in online and brick and mortar casinos. There are no Sudan based casinos, neither online, nor offline and players of foreign sites face corporal punishment (usually whipping) if caught. Some foreign online casinos are reported to be blocked by Sudanese ISPs, as well as several proxy servers and other tools for masking users online identity.

However, it is highly unlikely in any country that a player gambling online from the safety of his home would actually be prosecuted. It is nevertheless technically illegal.

SPORTS BETTING IN SUDAN

Sports betting falls into the same category as all other forms of online or offline gambling in Sudan, therefore it is strictly prohibited under Islamic law and players face Shari’a corporal punishment (hudood) if caught.

Online sports betting is illegal as well and some foreign sites are blocked by Sudanese ISPs. However, it is not likely in any country, that a player gambling online from the safety of his home would actually get prosecuted by the authorities.

LOTTERY IN SUDAN

All forms of gambling in Sudan are prohibited by law and therefore there is neither a national lottery, nor any other legal lottery providers in operation in the country.

Players of foreign online lotteries face corporal punishment if they are caught. However, this is extremely unlikely to happen to players participating in foreign online lottery draws from their homes.