The French Budget Minister Announces The End Of 2009-Early 2010 Is His Target

Eric Woerth, the French budget minister, was briefed on the arrangements being made to combat betting made by the French Tennis Federation (FFT) during the Masters Series, and spoke at the Palais Omnisports de Bercy in Paris.  He said that the latest legislation and regulations on Internet sports betting are expected to be in place by the end of 2009 or the beginning of 2010, reports the Reuters news agency.

Budget Minister Woerth said that the drafting stage was almost complete, and that before the end of 2008, the proposed bill would be presented to the French Council of Ministers.

Minister Woerth is saying that during 2009, the bill will be reviewed by the National Assembly and the Senate and that the ministry would be ready by late 2009 or early 2010 to carry it out. 

As of yet, the bill is still to be submitted to the Brussels (EU) Commission. The commission previously asked France to modify its existing and monopolistic legislation based on the grounds that it perceives French restrictions on competition as not being compatible with EU law, and also for the reason that in its opinion France has not demonstrated the necessary, appropriate and non-discriminatory steps to be taken to restrict the open provision of sports betting.

Woerth pointed out, however that the changes were not being brought about as a result of pressures from the EU, when he said that he did not do this because Brussels has requested it. He said that he was doing it because it is necessary in as much as these bets are in existence anyway and therefore it is better that they be supervised. It is expected that sporting bodies will play a key role in the overall organization and that they will benefit financially from online sports betting actions. Woerth also says that the French authorities are also planning to enforce naming and copyright legislation in respect to the names and logos being used at their sporting events.    

During the previous year, the amounts being bet on matches through online gambling on major tennis tournaments in Paris at Bercy, reached Euros 250 million, bringing about a situation where the authorities are tracking 150 websites. The president of the FFT and vice-president of the French National Olympic and Sports organization, Christian Bîmes, says that this year the amount of bets is already at Euro130 million and that according to him, it should exceed Euro 300 million by the end of the week.

When he beat Argentinean David Nalbandian in three sets 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, over the weekend, French player Jo-Wilfried Tsonga won the Masters Series at Paris-Bercy.

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