Sports betting cannot be banned - CEO Gaming Commission

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Gaming Commission, Peter Mireku has insisted there is no way sports betting will be ever banned in the country.

With the heightened calls by some politicians and religious leaders to ban sports betting, Peter says, “banning sports betting is not the direction we should look at”.

He defends that the gaming community generates millions in revenue for the government. “This money is contributed into the consolidated account for development”, he disclosed.

The Gaming Commission CEO however agrees that the way forward for sports betting in Ghana is the introduction of more regulations that will not only protect stakeholders but also generate more revenue for the government.

Sharing some innovations to make this possible, Peter revealed the Commission is in the process of hooking betting companies onto a singular platform. “This way, we can keenly monitor their activities and make sure they regard regulations to the latter.

Peter Mireku shared his professional view on the subject during an interview with Samuel Eshun, host of the Happy Morning Show aired on e.TV Ghana and Happy98.9FM.

The government in its 2021 Budget presented to Parliament estimated an annual revenue loss of over GHS 300 million due to leakages in the gaming industry.

The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry for the Interior have been tasked to co-supervise the gaming industry and consult with stakeholders to formulate a comprehensive policy to improve revenue mobilisation from this source.

However, Ranking Member on Parliament’s Committee on Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson has called on the government to ban sports betting rather than imposing taxes on the sector.

He believes the activity is destroying the Ghanaian youth and must be restricted rather than taxing the gaming industry.

“Ghana today, we are complaining that this gambling is destroying our youth. I have read a number of articles on this. I would have thought the government will come out with a policy to restrict gambling and to even ban it