The shifting European Union definition of illegal sports betting spells trouble for Malta’s online gambling licensing regime, while opening up possibilities for non-EU licensing jurisdictions such as Antigua.

In 2014, the Council of Europe proposed a new definition of illegal sports betting that required the activity to be legal in the member state in which the customer resided, rather on where the operator was based.

Malta, which derives 11% of its gross domestic product from its online gambling sector, asked the European Court of Justice to weigh in on the matter. A year later, Malta withdrew its request, while promising to achieve the desired effect through “other solutions.”

Over the weekend, the Independent quoted Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) chairman Joe Cuschieri saying that the EU’s proposed change to the Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions would “effectively render illegal all operators who offer their services via their MGA license in other European states.”