UAE Crack Down on Online Casinos Could Mean Regulated iGaming

Japan has recently announced an ambitious plan to overhaul its gambling law in a way that specifically targets online casino gambling, which is illegal in the country, and which lawmakers fear would cannibalize the upcoming integrated resort project, the MGM Osaka.

So, Are Online Casinos and Sports Coming to the UAE?

Something similar may finally be happening in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with industry executive and insider Jad Moubarak raising an important point on his LinkedIn profile:

“The UAE is cracking down hard on unregulated gaming websites this week, with many major platforms being blocked in the last few days. This can only mean one thing. Who’s going to come in and lead the charge? Exciting times ahead for the gaming industry in the region.”

Jad Moubarak

Moubarak drew attention to the fact that the gambling regulator and authorities have been engaged in blocking illegally operating online casino websites that target the UAE, which could mean “only one thing” – that regulated platforms may be coming in to fill the vacuum.

Whether this is actually true remains subject to speculation, but there is some reason to believe it might actually be true. For one, the newly-established regulator, the General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority (GCGRA) has already published information on its website that application for iGaming licenses may actually be possible.

GCGRA May Be Edging Closer to Issuing iGaming Licenses

However, no further details – including the timeline – have been clarified. Moubarak thinks that because there have been intense crackdowns over the past days, as he puts it, this ought to mean that the GCGRA is finally looking forward to opening a public tender for licenses and possibly granting some.

There is demand for this already. According to various research, as many as 41% of people in the UAE are already betting on sports, with iGaming numbers not immediately clear. Online casinos may be coming soon as Moubarak suggests, but there is also the possibility that the GCGRA is not keen to move in too early on this particular vertical.

In the meantime, vendors have been arriving in the Emirates, with IGT recently obtaining a permit from the GCGRA to bring its portfolio locally.