The President of the Georgian Football Federation Levan Kobiashvili spoke about the prohibition of gambling companies by the state in the Imedi program "Sport Imedi".

"With these changes, the clubs received a considerable blow. We did everything we could to ensure that the representatives of the gaming business remained, and sponsorship agreements or the sale of the name remain valid for now. Of course, they are also missing something, and this will definitely affect the situation. We all agree that some regulations It is necessary, but at the same time, the game business needs to stand by and help in some way.

For example, in any country, including the English Premier League, selling names and financing clubs is an accepted form. UEFA had a study where betting is among the top three biggest funders. The Ukrainian championship is sponsored by one of the betting companies. This is an accepted form, a common occurrence and I don't see anything special.

We refused funding from the state, today we have a sponsor, but if something changes tomorrow and we no longer have it, it will be a serious problem for us. We have always said that we do not want state funding, we prefer to have other income, and if we have a problem with these regulations, it is clear that we can tell the state again that we need their funding. If it will be replaced by other companies, I will be happy, if not, of course, we will have a problem," said Levan Kobiashvili.

According to the new regulations, the taxable base of the gaming business has increased by 70%, Georgian citizens who are under 25 years old have been banned from participating in gambling. All kinds of TV commercials, outdoor advertisements and placement of advertisements on Georgian websites are also prohibited.

Source: https://goal.ge/news/183578/seriozuli-problema-iqneba-kobiashvili-gembling-kompaniebis-akrdzalvaze