40% of Albanians play in sports betting

13/06/2011 19:55

The first betting company in Albania was of state property, called “The
Center of Sport Betting”, created in 1992. Today in Tirana and in every
other inhabited area you can find a betting center in every 500 meters.
It is the same in every Balkan country, one of the regions that felt
less damage from the world crisis. According to several economic
analyses, the low living standards in these areas increase people’s
desire to hope for luck in games. The Balkan region is always considered
by specialized agencies as a center of organized crime, favored by weak
laws and corruption.

It is not by accident that countries like Albania, Serbia, Macedonia or Bosnia and Herzegovina have people involved in football scandals and fixed matches, like the recent case in Italy.

Last January, Albino Prudentino, the boss of “Sacra Corona Unita” was extradited from Albania to Brindisi. Prudentino was arrested on 29th September 2010 in Vlore, captured by an international anti-mafia operation. Angelo, the son of Prudentino, owned three betting companies in Albania “Bet Plus”, “Betting System Albania” and “Casino Italia”, with its centers in Tirana and Vlore.

Besides these, there are seven other companies operating in our country, from 15 that used to be in the past. The companies have merged for sharing the monthly revenues of 14 million ALL per month. These are the numbers that are officially registered by the companies, but if you add other smaller companies that function locally and illegally, the total number would be 20 companies. The total number of betting centers is 2000, and same is the number of illegal ones. While our country has only 18 libraries, 67 art galleries and only 7 cinemas, 40% of the population put their hopes on gambling.

According to betting market experts, around 3 million betting tickets are sold each weekend in Albania, a country with a population slightly more than 3 million people. A single person can play several tickets, and the average value is 10 Euros.

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