RNS Number:7625R
Stanley Leisure PLC
06 November 2003

                                                                 6 November 2003

                              STANLEY LEISURE plc
                     Statement re Stanleybet International


Stanley Leisure plc announces today that the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has
ruled in favour of Stanleybet International, its overseas betting operation, in
the Gambelli case. The following statement was released this morning by
Stanleybet International following this ruling.




  STANLEYBET INTERNATIONAL OPENS UP EUROPEAN BETTING MARKET FOLLOWING EUROPEAN
                            COURT OF JUSTICE RULING


Liverpool and Luxembourg, 6th November 2003.  In today's public hearing The
European Court of Justice (ECJ) released its long awaited judgement in Gambelli
et al., case C-243/01.  The judgement, which upholds the opinion submitted by
Advocate General Alber on 13th March 2003, departs dramatically from the
established restrictive history within the European Union on gaming and betting
services, and could have far-reaching consequences for betting in the European
Union.



The ECJ held that the Italian legislation - which punishes, as a criminal
offence, all behaviours of collection, acceptance, booking and forwarding of
sports bet proposals within or from Italy, except in the presence of a licence
or authorisation issued by the authorities - is contrary to Articles 43 and 49
ff EC Treaty*.



The Gambelli case was referred to the ECJ by an Italian court following a
criminal action brought against a number of agents affiliated to Stanleybet
International**, the overseas betting operation of Stanley Leisure plc, a FTSE
250 company quoted on the London Stock Exchange and one of the largest
bookmakers worldwide with almost 1000 betting outlets.



The Court stated that "where a company established in a Member State (such as
Stanley) pursues the activity of collecting bets through the intermediary of an
organisation of agencies established in another Member State (such as the
defendants in the main proceedings), any restrictions on the activities of those
agencies constitute obstacles to the freedom of establishment". The Court also
added "a prohibition, enforced by criminal penalties, on participating in
betting games organised in Member States other than in the country where the
bettor is established constitutes a restriction on the freedom to provide
services".



Managing Director of Stanley Leisure's Betting Division, John Whittaker, said "
We are extremely pleased with the judgement that has just been published.  It
does us justice and certainly rewards our efforts.  We now hope that the Italian
Government will soon enact domestic legislation compliant with the ruling of the
Court".



"The Gambelli case concerns a bricks and mortar business which should not be
confused with internet betting operations. Because of our unique technology and
experience in this type of business we are ideally placed to export our model
into other EU countries.  However in the meantime Italy is an extremely
important target market for Stanleybet International.  We feel we are ideally
poised to operate and compete there as loyal players, to offer a whole array of
new attractive services to Italian consumers."



As well as Italy, Stanleybet International operates in a number of countries
using technology unique to the betting industry developed by experts at
Stanleybet International since 1996.  Bets taken at agent's premises in Italy
are collected and placed in the UK via state-of-the-art data transmission and
data handling systems which compute an almost unlimited variety of bets in real
time.



Stanleybet International has devoted considerable human and financial resources
to assisting the local agents in arguing their case before the ECJ.  The
practical effect of this judgement ought to be the opening up of the Italian
market place to cross-border sports betting services.



                                    - ENDS -





For further information or comment please contact:



Stanley Leisure plc                                Tel: 0151 237 6034
Michael Riddy, Finance Director


Hudson Sandler
Michael Sandler / Noemie de Andia                  Tel: 020 7796 4133



Notes to Editors:



*Art. 43 (Freedom of Establishment) ff EC treaty of Rome 1957 states that: "
within the framework of the provisions set out below, restrictions on the
freedom of establishment of nationals of a Member State in the territory of
another Member State shall be prohibited. Such prohibition shall also apply to
restrictions on the setting up of agencies, branches or subsidiaries by
nationals of any Member State established in the territory of any Member State.



Freedom of establishment shall include the right to take up and pursue
activities as self-employed persons and to set up and manage undertakings, in
particular companies or firms within the meaning of the second paragraph of
Article 48, under the conditions laid down for its own nationals by the law of
the country where such establishment is effected, subject to the provisions of
the Chapter relating to capital".



Art. 49 (Freedom to Provide Services) ff EC Treaty of Rome 1957 states that "
Within the framework of the provisions set out, restrictions on freedom to
provide services within the Community shall be prohibited in respect of
nationals of member states who are established in a State of the Community other
than that of the person for whom the services are intended.



The Council may, acting by a qualified majority on a proposal from the
Commission, extend the provisions of the Chapter to nationals of a third country
who provide services and who are established within the Community."



** When it was originally filed, the defendants of the Gambelli case were agents
of Stanley International Betting, a company which together with Stanley Fairbet
have recently been rebranded as Stanleybet International.



Stanleybet International - With existing betting outlets in Italy, Croatia and
Romania Stanleybet International is the overseas betting operation of Stanley
Leisure plc, a FTSE 250 company quoted on the London Stock Exchange.  Stanley
Leisure is the UK's largest gaming company and one of the largest betting
companies in Europe with almost 1,000 outlets and 50 years experience in the
industry.  Stanley Leisure is also the largest casino operator in Great Britain,
with 41 casinos, including the prestigious world-renowned Crockfords in London.
Stanleybet International is regarded as one of the companies best placed to take
advantage of the European deregulation of the betting industry.



For further information on Stanley Leisure please visit http://
www.stanleyleisure.com.



For further information about the Gambelli Case (Case C-243/01) including the
European Court of Justice's ruling and the opinion of Advocate General Siegbert
Alber from 13th March 2003 please visit http://www.curia.eu.int.


                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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