Sports betting operator SportPesa has managed to block – temporarily, at least – efforts by Kenya’s gambling regulator to revoke the license under which the operator is conducting its local business. 

On Thursday, Kenya’s Betting Control & Licensing Board (BCLB) revoked the license issued to Milestone Games Ltd, a company controlled by SportPesa CEO Ronald Karauri, through which SportPesa had re-launched its dormant Kenyan betting business in late-October. 

However, like a fencer, SportPesa/Milestone managed to parry the BCLB’s thrust by obtaining a Nairobi High Court order that same day which will allow SportPesa to continue its Kenyan operations via Milestone’s license until a hearing scheduled for January 25, 2021. The net result is a temporary preservation of the status quo. 

As for how said status quo came about, SportPesa shut its Kenyan operations in October 2019 due to its failure to resolve a long-running betting tax dispute with the Kenya Revenue Authority. In late-October, SportPesa relaunched via the Milestone license, only to have the BCLB shut the site the same day.