Colombian football sues regulator for cut of betting pie

Colombia’s top football organizing body has filed a lawsuit against the country’s gambling regulator, claiming the sport is owed a slice of online sports betting revenue.

Late last week, El Tiempo reported that the División Mayor del Fútbol Profesional Colombiano (Dimayor), which represents the top two flights of Colombian football, was pursuing legal action against local gambling regulator Coljuegos for issuing online gambling licenses without cutting the leagues in for a slice of the proceeds.

Dimayor claims Colljuegos’ online betting licensees are unfairly using team names and trademarks without compensating the sport. Dimayor’s former president Jorge Perdomo had sought some kind of revenue-sharing scheme with Coljuegos since before the regulator began issuing online gambling licenses in June 2017.

Perdomo was ousted from Dimayor’s presidency this summer, in part due to his inability to realize the clubs’ demands for more revenue. Dimayor’s current president Jorge Enrique Vélez appears to believe that he knows where some of that scratch can be found.