9 Lions

About 9 Lions

Anyone residing in Cyprus, with income not high enough to support their basic needs, is eligible for the benefit.

Cyprus is not the first market to consider whether to block its welfare recipients from using their benefits to gamble, Brazil introduced a similar ban in 2025.

During a session of the House Audit Committee last Thursday, members of parliament (MPs), the Data Protection Commissioner and representatives from the Welfare Benefits Administration Service (WBAS), the Gaming & Casino Supervision Commission and the National Betting Authority (NBA) convened to discuss ways to identify and restrict gambling activity among GMI beneficiaries, as reported by Cyprus Mail.

About 9 Lions

The review examined the gaming sector and associated money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing risks.

Spillemyndigheden said it contributed actively to this work and sat on FATF’s gaming sector working group. The regulator confirmed that many of the indicators in the report carry relevance for operators licensed in Denmark.

FATF’s warning on illegal and offshore gambling will resonate in Denmark. Last year, Spillemyndigheden secured a court order to block 178 unlicensed gambling sites, the largest such action in the regulator’s history. 

What is 9 Lions?

Entain stressed the importance of its retail networks in providing local employment and community engagement. 

It noted the role of machine gaming revenue in sustaining shops outside of race days, which in turn supports local economic activity, including around £50 million annually devoted to British horse racing. 

Entain warned that a sharp rise in MGD could prompt customers to migrate out of the regulated market, estimating that up to £1 billion in gambling stakes could shift to the black market.