Government of the City of Buenos Aires wants online gaming licences to start operating in October

In February of this year, the Buenos Aires Government opened the registration process. To avoid concentration, it was established that those who already have face-to-face licenses may not also have participation in the online. This left Achával, a partner of Cristóbal López when Néstor Kirchner gave them exclusivity through a DNU until 2032. CIRSA's Spaniards, who participate in the ships, were also left out.

The business is exclusively managed by the City, preventing the Nation from claiming the faculty as with the on-campus (Macri handed the game to Larreta in 2016). According to Perfil newspaper, the government highlighted that LOTBA, through Martín García Santillán, issues permits and not licenses. The City is not authorized to issue licenses.

But the emergence of the coronavirus caused the face-to-face business to stall. And companies pressure the government to change the rules.

Daniel Angelici is about to present its project, as he has done before in the Province of Buenos Aires during the gobernment of María Eugenia Vidal.

Also playing in this dispute is Fabián "Pepín" Simón, a lawyer who was in charge of the Game during Mauricio Macri's presidency, located a man of his in the CABA Lottery and faces both Federico de Achával (Hipódromo) and Angelici.

It is the head of government, Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, who must analyze the issue. If they are not allowed to enter, these companies will seek to keep the online turf business, to return to the races and bet on a new audience.

There are already three companies that presented their paperwork, but there are more in the portfolio. The government wants the business to be up and running in October. The requirements (anti-laundering, software management, control rules) and the organizational idea were mainly taken from Spain. Licenses are said to be unlimited, to avoid leaving the business in a few hands.

As for the collection, the companies would not pay a canon, but the Buenos Aires government would receive a percentage of the collected thing.

In the midst of the pandemic, in addition, a resolution by LOTBA, the Lottery of Buenos Aires, surprised, which makes the conditions for companies to participate in the management of online gambling in the city more flexible. This measure has already generated requests for reports by some legislators.

Meanwhile, the union association APHARA (Hippodromes and horse racing licenses) spoke out against online gambling. The head of the association, Diego Quiroga, said in a press release that he puts at risk more than 2,000 jobs in the City of Buenos Aires, adding that they do not generate genuine employment like face-to-face companies.