Spanish gaming group Codere has filed a legal challenge against online gambling company bwin and Real Madrid football club, claiming that the club sponsorship amounts to illegal publicity under Spanish law. Bwin, based in Austria and operating under various international and regional licences including Gibraltar, has sponsored Real Madrid since 2007 and in March 2009 extended the contract until 2013.

Codere states that its Canoe bingo and sports betting facility close to the Real Madrid stadium, Santiago Bernabeú, has to operate under conditions of unfair competition as Spanish law restricts gambling advertising. The company also points out that while it is subject to gaming taxation, bwin pays nothing for the revenue it makes from Spanish gamblers. Real Madrid is estimated to gain between €15 million and €25 million from bwin sponsorship.

Yesterday the Spanish commercial court in Madrid was asked to order both the immediate cessation of bwin advertising campaigns and the end of its football sponsorship. According to Codere, the grounds for this action are that bwin publicity is neither authorised nor subject to any regulation by the competant Spanish authorities. (E-02.24.11)

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