Meridian snaps up online licence in Colombia

Meridian Gaming has become the 15th company to obtain an online gambling licence in Colombia since the country opted to re-regulate its domestic market.

Coljuegos, the national gambling regulator in Colombia, awarded the licence to the company’s Meridian Gaming Colombia SAS business.

Meridian will operate in the Latin American country through the Meridianbet.com.co platform, via which punters will be able to place wagers on real sports events.

The firm joins other licensed sites, such as wplay.co, betplay.com.co, colbet.co, zamba.co, codere.com.co, mijugada.co, masgol.co, luckia.co, sportium.com.co, rushbet.co, aquijuego.co, apuestalo.co, betalfa.co and rivalo.co.

Coljuegos said in a statement that a further two licensed websites could go live before the end of the year.

Last month, Coljuegos set out plans to clamp down on illegal gambling activities in an effort to divert more tax funds to national health and social services.

Coljuegos president Juan B. Pérez Hidalgo said a total of “2,534 illegal elements of games of luck and chance” had been withdrawn so far this year.

Pérez Hidalgo also said that the taxes avoided by the illegal operations could have “financed the subsidised health system and served more than 107,000 Colombians”.

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