National lottery: Camelot launches high court challenge over losing licence

theguardian.com:

The national lottery operator Camelot is launching a high court challenge to the Gambling Commission’s decision to hand over the operation of the draw to a rival after 28 years, accusing the regulator of getting the decision “badly wrong”.

In a statement, Camelot’s chief executive, Nigel Railton, said: “We are launching a legal challenge today in our capacity as an applicant for the fourth [national lottery] licence because we firmly believe that the Gambling Commission has got this decision badly wrong.”

Allwyn, a lottery operator owned by the Czech billionaire Karel Komárek, is in line to take over from Camelot in 2024, after beating the incumbent in a four-way battle that also included Sisal, owned by the Paddy Power parent, Flutter, and the media tycoon Richard Desmond.

“When we received the result, we were shocked by aspects of the decision,” Railton said.

“Despite lengthy correspondence, the commission has failed to provide a satisfactory response. We are therefore left with no choice but to ask the court to establish what happened.

“Irrespective of Camelot’s dual roles as current operator and applicant for the next national lottery licence, the competition is one of the largest UK government-sponsored procurements and the process deserves independent scrutiny.

“Separately, more than 1,000 Camelot employees work tirelessly to successfully operate the national lottery under the current licence and, at the very least, they are owed a proper explanation.”