The Albanian Government has completed the legal framework required to allow online sports betting. Local media has reported that more than 28 months after the gambling law was adopted, all necessary bylaws have now been approved, paving the way for the licensing of online sports betting operators.
However, no deadline has yet been set for the opening of the application process. Online betting will only be permitted through platforms that require users to log in with an official ID. The systems used to operate online betting services must also include mechanisms to track player activity.
As previously reported, the Government has decided that no more than 10 licenses will be issued nationwide. The selection process will be competitive and managed by the Gambling Supervisory Authority (AMLF) in collaboration with a special Licensing Commission.
The law adopted in February 2024 sets out the conditions applicants must meet to obtain an online sports betting licence. These include having a minimum share capital of ALL 40m, while the applicant or at least one shareholder must have at least three years of gambling industry experience across no fewer than three EU or OECD countries.
If the relevant experience is provided by a shareholder, that shareholder must hold at least 30% of the company’s shares. Applicants must also have generated at least ALL 2bn in gambling-related turnover during the previous financial year.
Speaking to local media, the Ministry of Finance previously attributed the more than two-year delay in completing the legal framework to the technical and institutional complexity of the process, which required extensive consultations and verification procedures, as well as the development of new regulatory systems.
Albania had previously imposed a ban on all forms of online and offline gambling in 2019, with only a few exceptions for land-based casinos
