Italian gambling operator Sisal, which runs the country’s most popular lottery, has joined the race for the next UK National Lottery licence. Sisal’s bid is being backed by the investment firm CVC Capital Partners.

Sisal is one of Italy’s largest gambling operators. It runs both land-based gaming and betting establishments and online facilities. The company’s products include poker, slots games, wagering and bingo, among others. As mentioned above, it also runs one of its home country’s largest and most popular lotteries, SuperEnalotto.

The UK Ministers are planning to launch an investigation into the collapse of the football player trading exchange company Football Index. Legislators are deeply concerned by the collapse of the operator, after users lost over £100 million following its crash into insolvency.

“This case further reinforces the need for our comprehensive review of gambling laws,” a government source told.

“This independent investigation into Football Index will feed into that work and if we need to make changes to regulation to protect people, we will.”

After making the decision to cut dividends on players from 14p to 3p, the Jersey-based company suffered a player and investor exodus, with some customers losing tens of thousands, and many scrambling to sell their shares and leave the site, prompting a crash.

The firm’s operating licence was subsequently suspended by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC), whilst standards body the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) also suspended its membership.

Betting shops in England and Wales reopened yesterday for the first time in 2021 amid the latest easing of Covid-19 restrictions in each country.

Various measures will remain in place in betting shops, with the number of customers allowed inside at any one time dependent on the size of the shop, with that number capped at eight. There will also be a limit on the time that customers can stay in the shop, while there will be no chairs, no live sports pictures and a maximum of two gaming machines in operation. Furthermore, customers will be limited to a maximum of two visits per day, with shops forced to close at 8 pm.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “I’m sure it will be a huge relief for those business owners who have been closed for so long, and for everyone else it’s a chance to get back to doing some of the things we love and have missed.

“I urge everyone to continue to behave responsibly and remember ‘hands, face, space and fresh air’ to suppress Covid as we push on with our vaccination programme.”