A message from the Chairman

Our goal upon the creation of APAJO in the Spring of 2018 was to help shape the Portuguese regulatory framework for online gambling and betting and to develop consumer protection measures based on scientific evidence. Four years later, we have built a solid research and analysis foundation combined with strong interaction with all stakeholders, from politics to sport, from consumer protection associations to science and the media. At this stage, I would like to thank my predecessor Gabino Oliveira for his excellent work over those years.

Now into the third year of Covid, this industry enjoys several opportunities but faces some challenges too. The shift to e-commerce was accelerated by lockdowns and restrictions, and the increasing figures of online operations are here to prove it. These developments come hand in hand with efficient consumer means of protection based on the possibilities offered by the Internet. The European Union's markets today are regulated with a very diverse range of requirements, thus making it very hard to compare data and efficiency of different regulatory framework, cross-border surveillance and international research. We operate in an online environment with different boundaries from those of the offline world. International cooperation is crucial to keep improving the laws of online gambling. We have followed this path in the past and will further narrow distances with other local and international associations to help harmonize rules where appropriate, mindful of reflecting in the national regulations the local features and preferences.

The new mandate of APAJO, which I will lead as the chairman, will therefore focus on intensifying cooperation with our stakeholders at the national, European and global levels, including common projects and measures for the education and protection of our clients based on empirical research and to which we will contribute in the best way possible.

Ricardo Domingues
President of APAJO

Objectives

• Promote the dialogue with the different stakeholders in this sector (users, operators, financial sector and public bodies), promoting safe, balanced, responsible and not compulsive online gambling.
• Promote scientific knowledge, studies and debates on topics of interest to the sector, diagnosing and monitoring the problems affecting it, to assist in the definition of a common strategy establishing the priorities and proposing the right measures for their implementation.