Global gambling market updates, November 10, 2026: Chile's Senate Economy Committee backs amendments to ban online betting; Abuja regulator tells NLRC licensees to regularise

Chile: Senate committee votes for amendments that would ban online betting

Chile's Senate Economy Committee met in Santiago on Monday, November 9, from 17:00 to 18:30 local time, to "continue the study of the amendments" to the bill regulating online betting platforms (Bulletin No. 14.838-03), according to the Senate's committee schedule. Finance Undersecretary Sebastián Vallebona was invited for the item. The bill is in its second constitutional stage in the Senate, which approved it in general in August 2025.

At the session, senators voted three to one, with one abstention, for substitute amendments that would turn the licensing bill into a prohibition, La Tercera and BioBioChile reported. BioBioChile said the committee secretariat warned that the first two substitute amendments departed from the bill's core ideas, but three senators voted to declare them admissible.

Two amendments with the same aim were put forward:

• Saavedra and Ibáñez. Senators Gastón Saavedra (PS), who chairs the committee, and Diego Ibáñez (Frente Amplio) proposed replacing the bill entirely. Online betting platforms would be barred from being operated, run or used to offer services in Chile, and from being promoted directly or indirectly. Exceptions would cover Polla Chilena de Beneficencia, Lotería de Concepción and racetracks, among others. The amendment also provides prison terms and fines for those who profit from the platforms and requires access and payment channels to be blocked, La Tercera reported.
• Núñez. Senate President Paulina Núñez (RN) filed an amendment that provides prison terms of up to 15 years, permanent court-ordered blocking of illegal platforms and aggravated penalties where criminal organisations are involved, according to La Tercera.

Saavedra said the two texts will be merged at the committee's next session, which La Tercera said is due next week.

Ibáñez argued that the debate should be reopened because, a month after the Senate's general vote, the Supreme Court declared the platforms illegal and ordered their sites shut, and because the Senate's membership has changed. Senator Matías Walker argued against prohibition and in favour of licensing. Vallebona defended the government's amendments, which were drafted with an advisory panel.

The government's package, filed on October 27, keeps the licensing model and would ban all online betting advertising, add a 3% specific tax on top of VAT and create five-year licences. We covered it in Chile's government files online betting bill amendments. Unlicensed sites are already being blocked by the telecoms regulator, Subtel, under court orders, as set out in our report on Subtel's DNS blocking of online gambling sites.

The committee vote is not final. The bill still needs the committee's report, a vote in the full Senate and, if the Senate changes the text, a third stage in the Chamber of Deputies.

Nigeria: Abuja regulator starts full operations and tells NLRC licensees to regularise

The Federal Capital Territory Lottery Regulatory Office (FCT-LRO) said in a public notice dated November 9, 2026, that it has "commenced operations as the regulatory authority" for gaming in Nigeria's Federal Capital Territory, which includes Abuja.

The notice bases the office's jurisdiction on the Supreme Court judgment in Attorney-General of Lagos State & 21 Others v. Attorney-General of the Federation & 15 Others (Suit No. SC/1/2008) and on Section 299 of the 1999 Constitution, under which the National Assembly exercises for the FCT the legislative powers a State House of Assembly holds elsewhere. Operators doing business in the FCT must comply with FCT licensing requirements and deal with the FCT-LRO.

On online gaming, the notice says the judgment "did not expressly settle" the framework and did not give any one state exclusive control of the online market. Operators may choose the regulator they license with "without undue interference, intimidation or coercive treatment by any State regulator". It adds that operating online does not by itself exempt a platform from licensing obligations.

Operators previously licensed by the National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC) that operate, or plan to operate, in the FCT must approach the office to regularise. Valid, unexpired NLRC licences will be recognised for the rest of their term and converted to FCT-LRO licences. Holders must hand over their NLRC-issued licences for verification and "commence the regularisation process within 7 days of publication of this notice."

The FCT-LRO's approved operators page lists 26 sports betting entries, including Bet9ja (KC Gaming), SportyBet, BetKing (SV Gaming), Football.com and NairaBet, as well as 21 casino entries, 32 interactive and mobile gaming schemes and 7 lottery operators plus National Lottery Nigeria. It says any operator not listed is classified as illegal.

Our Nigeria gaming licence guide explains how licensing moved to state regulators after the Supreme Court ruling, and Nigeria is one of the markets compared in gambling licence requirements by country.