The Portuguese Online Betting and Gambling Association (APAJO) is hopeful the country can become a flagbearer for the industry in Europe despite its current worrying illegal gambling figures. 

Research by the trade association found that 40% of Portuguese gamblers use illegal operators, while a separate study discovered that only 37.7% of players betting with black market sites were aware of doing so. So while the regulated industry has thrived in the country in recent years, there is still plenty for the authorities to tackle. 

The latest episode of the iGaming Daily podcast delved into this topic, as SBC’s Media Manager, Fernando Noodt, was joined by Bernardo Oliveira Neves, the Secretary General of APAJO to analyse the country’s betting landscape.

When asked about the APAJO’s hopes for the future of the market in Portugal, Neves said that the country could resolve its regulation and strike a balance between all of the important stakeholders to thrive. 

“Portugal could actually be a flagbearer for the industry across Europe. Obviously, we’ll need all of the stakeholders to pull together to make that happen. 

“But we at least have that hope that if there are positive, constructive discussions with everybody on a good standing, that we can actually make Portugal an example of what can be achieved with the right balance for all of the involved parties.

“We’ll naturally be discussing that with our political counterparts, with our regulation counterparts. Hopefully this will continue to be a very welcoming market, in particular for the consumer, which I believe is the main concern of all involved parties”.

Neves suggested that the biggest “black spot” was payments and the banks’ lack of intervention. 

“The Portuguese state is doing, I would say, the basics. They are conducting URL blocking, which we already know is ineffective but indispensable. 

“They’re raising cases before the public prosecutors. But they’re definitely not addressing, at least successfully so far, the payment side of things that is the biggest black spot.

“Portuguese payment methods owned by Portuguese banks are being used to credit illegal platforms; there lacks a clear direction on the political side of which agencies should be responsible.”

Portugal’s regulatory frameworks have not been updated since 2015, which has hindered the battle against the black market.

Neves expects some movement regarding regulatory changes within the next 12 months, but said that politicians have been reluctant to intervene. 

He said: “The Portuguese regulator and legislator has in fact been very conservative for good and bad – one positive is that restrictions aren’t being made lightly. 

“The negative is that both on product and on responsibility related to illegal gambling, things haven’t moved. Our expectation is that sometime, maybe in the next 12 months, there will be some movement in terms of regulation.”