Garowe (PP News Desk) — Puntland parliamentarians have raised concerns about the widespread use of the 1XBET app for betting in Puntland State, Somalia. Abdiqani Farah Dhaashane, an MP in the Puntland Parliament, called for measures to address unregulated online betting. “It has come to our attention that many young people are betting using the 1XBET app. This contributes to capital flight from Somalia and is also causing family breakdowns. Have telecommunications companies been asked what they could do about this issue?” said Dhaashane.
In response to the question regarding the 1XBET app, Mohamed Shandi, a member of the Cultural, Media, and Telecommunications Committee of the Puntland Parliament, stated that telecommunications companies claim they “are unable to stop 1XBET online betting.”
Betting customers download the 1XBET app from either Google Play or the Apple Store. They use mobile money wallets from Golis Telecom, Hormuud Telecom, or Somtel to deposit money for betting on football results, including British Premier League matches, the European Champions League and casino games. “Only 1% of Somali customers use Mastercard,” a senior telecoms executive noted.
1XBET was founded by Sergey Karshkov, a Russian national who passed away in Switzerland in 2023 due to “a medical mishap.” His company does not hold gambling licences in the UK, the USA and Australia.
In 2020, the Puntland Post published a report on Kulan Sports, an online betting app that used mobile money wallets from telecommunications companies in Somali to process betting transactions. Kulan Sports ceased operations after Hormuud, Golis and Somtel stopped facilitating betting transactions for the app.
© Puntland Post, 2024
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