Operator News
Colombia – More than 14,000 illegal sites blocked
By James - 11 March 2024
According to the Management against Illegal Operations division attached to Coljuegos, over the past four years, 14,570 orders to block online betting websites operating illegally in the country have been issued.
Marco Emilio Hincapié, president of Coljuegos said that in recent months, the entity has intensified both the tracking and the request for the blockage of unauthorized portals that promote online gambling.
“We are providing all the legal and technological tools to our team so that they can fight against illegal sites head-on. Once we have gathered the evidence, we make the request to the Ministry of ICT (Ministry for the Information and Communications Technologies), to ask internet providers to block these portals,” said the president.
Likewise, Hincapié reiterated that in the country, there are only 15 authorized operators of internet-operated games. These online betting sites transferred approximately $317.977 billion to Coljuegos during the year 2023.
“We invite all bettors to verify that the websites are authorized before playing. Otherwise, not only would they be betting illegally, but they would also be risking their own resources and supporting betting houses that do not contribute resources for the health of the less privileged Colombians,” said the president.
In September 2020 Coljuegos announced that it was partnering with officials from the IT and Communications Ministry and the industry association Fecoljuegos, to protect licensed online gaming operators in Colombia. The three entities signed a ‘pact for legality’ to promote lawful practices within the online gaming sector and announced that they would be introducing new methods to block illegal ones.
