‘Shocked’ Camelot launches action

UK National Lottery operator Camelot has confirmed that it will launch legal proceedings against the Gambling Commission for labelling Czech billionaire Karel Komarek’s Allwyn the “preferred” candidate to take over.

In a statement released by Camelot, its CEO Nigel Railton said: “We are launching a legal challenge today in our capacity as an applicant for the fourth licence because we firmly believe that the Gambling Commission has got this decision badly wrong.

“When we received the result, we were shocked by aspects of the decision. Despite lengthy correspondence, the commission has failed to provide a satisfactory response. We are therefore left with no choice but to ask the court to establish what happened.

“Irrespective of Camelot’s dual roles as current operator and applicant for the next National Lottery licence, the competition is one of the largest UK government-sponsored procurements and the process deserves independent scrutiny.

“Separately, more than 1,000 Camelot employees work tirelessly to successfully operate the National Lottery under the current licence and, at the very least, they are owed a proper explanation.”