Legislation
Mexico – President announces investigation into licences
By James - 15 May 2023
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has reiterated his stance that no more licences will be granted under his administration.
“Casinos should not be opened. We are not issuing permits to open casinos, that began with (Vicente) Fox, when Santiago Creel was secretary of the interior, and I am going to ask the secretary of the interior for a report because if there is a new license it is cancelled because the instruction is not to hand over any license ,” he said.
His announcement comes as online operators become more present in local sports in particular Caliente which sponsors many clubs in first division football. The company is also the official betting house sponsor of the Mexican Baseball League and has sponsorship deals with football clubs in second division football as well.
Questioned during his morning conference about the mental health problems that gambling addiction can bring, President López Obrador reported that he had instructed the Secretary of the Interior, Adán Augusto López, to open an investigation into casino and betting house licenses.
“We are not going to issue licenses for casinos that is clear. Since we are not granting new concessions for mining, since we are not allowing the exploitation of hydrocarbons with fracking, since we are not allowing transgenic corn for human consumption”, he said.
In a press conference in March President López Obrador announced that no new casinos would be allowed to open and all licenses which had been granted over the last four years would be revoked.
