eBusiness Weekly
Given that gambling poses a social risk, Museveni’s ban should have received unqualified support. But it hasn’t. Major online gambling proponents such as the American Gaming Association, the Professional Golfers Association, and the National Basketball Association argue that banning sports betting, gaming, and gambling cuts off much-needed revenue. They say that gambling revenue stimulates economic growth, lowers taxes, pays down national debt, funds social programmes and provides entertainment options.
A second argument advanced against the ban is that it will simply push gambling underground. This, in turn, will contribute to an overall rise in crime, incidents of match-fixing, and significant loss of government revenue as has been documented in India and Singapore.
There’s some evidence to support this argument. In some countries people have been swindled in underground gambling markets. This has prompted Brazil, Cambodia, Russia, China, Slovakia, Sweden, Denmark, Romania and Greece, among others, to rethink their gambling bans. These countries have made efforts to re-regulate the gambling market after initially restricting or completely banning the industry.
