The opening of sports betting is now a matter of days. The draft law has passed to be voted on in parliament, under new rules.

The bets will be placed only on mobile phones and computers, so there will be no dedicated venues like those from a few years ago.

Companies that will be licensed must have a capital of over 20 million Albanian lek and have more than 3 years of experience in games of chance, and their number cannot exceed 10.

The law states that 15% of the money collected from bets will go towards supporting sports, art, culture, and innovation technology.

It also aims to protect the players by creating a guarantee fund for the winners, where the organizer must deposit 120 million Albanian lek, but not less than 5% of the amounts played by the players within a year, in a separate bank account, in favor of the Ministry of Finance, which can be unlocked only by the order of the responsible minister for finances.

Meanwhile, to settle the obligations with the Gambling Supervision Authority, the organizer of online sports betting is required to deposit a fund of 50 million Albanian lek in a separate bank account.

Unlike physical venues, which reached 4700 across the country in 2018, the online format does not limit the number of accounts that can be opened.