Oppressive regulation forces Sportingbet to quit Italy

The British bookmaker — one of the biggest online betting shops in Europe — said it is quitting Italian cyberspace because premier Silvio Berlusconi will not liberalise it properly.

The withdrawal, just three years after it entered Italy, will cost Sportingbet a total of £7.1 million wiping out most of its reported profits this quarter — traditionally its quietest as it takes in most of football's close season.

The plan had been for the football-mad Italians to augment Sportingbet's big southern European gambling markets of Greece, Spain and Turkey.

However, after three years of losses Sportingbet has sold its Italian operation for a nominal amount, probably 1, to its local management.

It blamed its failure on the Italian government's refusal to relax the 10,000 (£8,700) maximum payout rule or to allow Sportingbet to keep books open during a football match or horse race.

Sportingbet said it would be taking a £6.4 million goodwill write-off on the price of the original acquisition plus further losses and costs of £700,000 on the disposal. Italy has proved a graveyard for Britain's bookies — Ladbrokes and William Hill have also failed to crack the market.