The UAE has removed gambling and betting provisions from its new Civil Transactions Law, marking another legal adjustment as the country shifts commercial gaming oversight toward a dedicated federal regulatory framework.
Federal Decree-Law No. 25 of 2025, which takes effect on June 1, 2026, replaces the former Civil Transactions Law issued under Federal Law No. 5 of 1985.
The repealed law contained Articles 1012 to 1021, which dealt with gambling and betting, including invalidity, restitution and the recoverability of losses. Those provisions were not carried forward into the new civil code.
The change comes as the General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority (GCGRA) continues to define the UAE’s regulated gaming model.
The regulator says it has exclusive jurisdiction to regulate, license and supervise commercial gaming activities and facilities in the UAE, including lottery, internet gaming, sports wagering and land-based gaming.
The omission may indicate a move away from general civil-code treatment of gambling disputes and toward rules set through the GCGRA and related legislation.
Legal analysis from Greenberg Traurig said further review could include limited amendments to the penal code and cybercrime law to align those statutes with the emerging gaming framework.
The UAE’s licensed gaming market has expanded in stages since the GCGRA was established.
Its current licensee register lists The Game LLC as the UAE Lottery operator, Wynn Al Marjan as the land-based gaming facilities licensee, Coin Technology Projects LLC under internet gaming and sports wagering and a vendor list that includes Aristocrat, Scientific Games, Light & Wonder, Konami Gaming, Sportradar, GeoComply and IGT.
Wynn Resorts received the UAE’s first commercial gaming operator license in 2024 for its Ras Al Khaimah resort project, a development Reuters described as part of wider economic competition in the Gulf tourism and investment market.
The legal change therefore sits within a broader transition from prohibition-based treatment toward licensed activity, regulatory supervision and enforcement against unlicensed gaming.
Sportradar’s UAE vendor license in October 2025 showed how the GCGRA’s framework has begun extending beyond land-based casino supply into sports betting services.
The GCGRA states that only licensed businesses and individuals are authorized to conduct commercial gaming activity in the UAE
