OPAP

OPAP – Greek Organisation of Football Prognostics S.A. ( ) is a Greek company organizing and conducting games of chance. It is headquartered in Athens and for many years OPAP was a state-owned gambling monopoly. The company holds the exclusive rights to organize and manage numerical lotteries and sports betting in Greece. In 2013 the privatization of the company was completed through the sale of the State's remaining 33% stake to the Emma Delta investment scheme.

OPAP – Greek Organisation of Football Prognostics S.A. ( ) is a Greek company organizing and conducting games of chance. It is headquartered in Athens and for many years OPAP was a state-owned gambling monopoly. The company holds the exclusive rights to organize and manage numerical lotteries and sports betting in Greece. In 2013 the privatization of the company was completed through the sale of the State's remaining 33% stake to the Emma Delta investment scheme. ==History== , Greece]] In the 1950s, an effort to upgrade Greek sport and improve its infrastructure began. In this framework, the General Secretariat for Sports (Greek: Γ.Γ.Α) was established in 1957¹. In order to secure funding, the idea to utilize revenue from football prognostics - following the example of other European countries - came to fruition. With this aim, OPAP was established in 1958¹ as a private legal entity under the umbrella of the General Secretariat for Sport. At the same time of its establishment, a Royal Decree institutionalized the first game OPAP introduced named PRO-PO (the Greek Acronym for Football Prognostics) which was organised along the lines of Italy's Toto Calcio. PRO-PO was launched in March 1959, a few months before the introduction of the Football League First Division and part of its revenues contributed to funding the newly created division. Initially there were no exclusive agencies and games players at partner corner-shops/kiosks, dairies, e.t.c while geographically the game was limited to Athens, Thessaloniki and Piraeus. ==OPAP's games== OPAP runs the following games: PRO-PO (Since 1 March 1959) 6 out of 36 (Launched on 28 March 1965, discontinued a year later) LOTTO (Since 5 December 1990) TZOKER (Since 6 December 1990) PROTO (Since 10 June 1992) PROPOGOAL (Since 3 March 1996) PAME STOIXIMA (Since 20 January 2000; In 2014 the company's digital sports betting platform was launched allowing players to bet online in Pame Stoixima and participate in the live betting games offered) SUPER 3 (Since 25 November 2002) EXTRA 5 (Since 25 November 2002) KINO (Since 4 October 2004) PAME STOIXIMA VIRTUAL SPORTS (Since 18 May 2017) POWERSPIN (Since 30 June 2020) In April 2015 the company launched opapp, its first application for smartphones ==Subsidiaries== OPAP has five subsidiaries: OPAP Cyprus Ltd, that operates lottery agencies in Cyprus; OPAP SPORTS Ltd (f/k/a OPAP Glory and Glory Sports Betting) that operates sports betting agencies in Cyprus; OPAP International Ltd, OPAP Investment Ltd and OPAP Services S.A. ==Criticism== February 2017, OPAP offered a new contract for its agents alongside the 2020 vision presentation. The new contract lowers commissions as they are determined by a fixed percentage of the Net Gaming Revenue(39% for 2017, 37% for 2018, 35% for 2019 and 2020). That commission is then adapted in each quarter depending on customers winnings. If customers win more than anticipated within a quarter part of the agents commission has to be returned. March 2017, agents were on strike. March 2017, OPAP 9 agents disagreed with the new contract OPAP offered alongside the 2020 vision. Within a month they initiated Judicial review to the supreme court concerning the unconstitutionally of the new contract. OPAP management team has seen that move as a threat to its monopoly and terminated cooperation with those 9 agents. March 2018, OPAP terminated cooperation with 600 agents because they did not sign the new contract OPAP offered. That while the case for the new contract is still open at the supreme court. All those agents had signed the old contract which OPAP terminated. The process of cooperation termination with its 600 agents involves removal of all OPAP supplied equipment. During this process an elderly father of an agent passed away the same day the equipment was removed. ==Controversy== ===Involvement in Stanleybet shutdown=== In November 2008, the government of Greece shut down the Greek operations of Liverpool-based Stanleybet International, a European gambling company. Stanleybet had recently opened two offices in Greece and was to be a major competitor to OPAP. The government acted on OPAP's public complaints and raided Stanleybet offices on 7 November 2008, confiscating their assets. One of the complaints expressed by protests during the 2008 Greek riots was the government's fast action in acting on behalf of OPAP to remove competition, whereas for issues affecting public safety or the rights of the people the government has been popularly thought to be slow-acting. ===European Court of Justice ruling=== In 2011, Stanleybet and two other UK-based companies, William Hill and Sportingbet, brought a legal action before the Symvoulio tis Epikrateias (Council of State) after their applications to OPAP for permission to provide sport betting services in Greece were rejected. The Council of State referred the matter to the European Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling in relation to the freedom of establishment and freedom to provide services which are fundamental to EU law. The preliminary ruling confirmed that the Greek legislation which granted a gambling monopoly to OPAP was incompatible with EU law. ==References== ==External links==

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