Online betting operator Bet365 has lost its legal bid to suspend the decision by Romanian regulators to cancel its local gaming license.

According to local media reports on Thursday, the Bucharest Court of Appeal denied Bet365’s request for a temporary suspension of the Romanian National Gambling Office’s (ONJN) October decision to revoke the company’s operating license. Bet365 is expected to appeal the ruling.

The ONJN placed Bet365 on its online gambling blacklist in October despite Bet365 having paid around €30m in back taxes to meet the requirements for eligibility for a new Romanian license. The ONJN also began issuing fines against Bet365’s Romanian customers for continuing to play with the site, which Bet365 told players the government had no right to collect.

When Bet365 was first added to the blacklist, Romanian media reported that the company had failed to abide by an ONJN order that all license applicants suspend their operations in the country between September 11 and October 10 of last year. In response, Bet365 claimed to have “at all times acted in compliance” with all relevant requirements.