Bulgaria shuts down Eurofootball over unpaid gambling taxes

Bulgaria’s gambling regulator has suspended the license of bookmaker Eurofootball after concluding that the operator had failed to pay its necessary taxes to the state.

On Wednesday, Bulgaria’s State Gambling Commission (SGC) announced the temporary revocation of the sports and race betting licenses issued to Eurofootball Ltd. The revocation will last a minimum of three months, within which the SGC says Eurofootball must “take action to end the violations.”

Said violations involve Eurofootball’s apparent reluctance to pay taxes on its gambling revenue. The SGC claims that the company owes the state around BGN329m (US$182m) in unpaid taxes based on the company’s revenue over a five-year period ending in December 2019.

Eurofootball was among the Bulgarian gambling companies owned by Vasil Bozhkov, who was indicted in January on criminal charges including extortion and attempted bribery. Bozhkov, who was detained in the United Arab Emirates in early February, has denied any wrongdoing while fighting Bulgaria’s efforts to extradite him to face the music.