Initially Coljuegos, in November of last year was considering betting on a strategy that according to them would help the country to position itself as a much more interesting country for investment and competitive in turn on the global stage, as it announced “through the hall” possible alliances with regulated jurisdictions such as France, Italy, Portugal and Spain, which last year signed an agreement to allow operators active in more than one of these markets to merge their player bases.
But the shared liquidity project entered in a "pause" mode and it is not yet clear if this will be reactivated by Coljuegos, for the time being. According to Evert Montero, president of Fecoljuegos:
"The project did not advance because some businessmen and industry associations expressed our observations and disagreements on this issue due to the risks to which the operations and operators of the local industry would be exposed."
For the Colombian Federation of Entrepreneurs of Games of Luck and Chance, the shared liquidity protects the national operators, favoring mainly the large multinationals. In this way, it considers that the best thing for the interests of the Colombian gaming sector is to leave it on stand-by until a new "clear and adjusted" initiative is presented.
Among other risks that exist with this initiative, they pointed out some of them:
1. Disadvantage of the national operators to compete: Because the local operators do not have authorization to operate in other countries, only in Colombia, while the multinationals that arrive in the country would already have several authorizations and would only need to obtain the Colombian one so that a Colombian player could bet on authorized platforms in the country and in turn in other regulated markets in the world. READ HERE: THE FIRST ONLINE POKER NETWORK IN EUROPE
2. Not many foreign companies present can meet the requirements: according to Fecoljuegos, in the country there are not many foreign companies with what would entail that only two or three meet the requirements to operate with the international liquidity of online poker. Therefore, this initiative will not be used to the maximum.
"We know that the regulator is reviewing different proposals and we support the intention of expanding the Colombian market with higher gambling offers, but we believe it is important to review with caution the regulations that are approved so that these do not put at risk the operation of national entrepreneurs who have always been committed to this activity, "assured finally Montero.
