Online gambling operator Optibet has filed a legal challenge of Latvia’s decision to suspend online gambling activity during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Tuesday, Latvian-licensed online gambling operator Optibet filed an appeal with the country’s Constitutional Court challenging Article 9 of the law approved last month that suspended nearly all gambling activity – including interactive gambling – to prevent further spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus.

Optibet’s Baltic chief Dainis Niedra said the online ban “not only has nothing to do with combating the spread of COVID-19, it also endangers the Latvian population.” Niedra noted the impact on locals who’d signed up for Latvia’s online self-exclusion register, who will now elect to gamble with internationally licensed operators whose actions fall outside the scope of the Lotteries and Gambling Supervision Inspectorate (IAUI).

Georgian Ustinov, CEO of Optibet’s parent company Enlabs AB, warned last month that the legislation “unjustifiably excluded” state-owned lottery operator SJSC Latvijas Loto, which holds a local monopoly on online lottery sales. Niedra said this exemption amounts to illegal state aid under European Union trade rules.