Online Casino Transfer: News - Head of OPAP Chosen

01/16/2010		Online Casino Style: News Head of OPAP Chosen
Home History Games News Dictionary		Some major power changes will take place in the coming weeks in Greece’s internet gambling industry, a direct reaction to the rise of the Socialist government after last October’s election. With the election of the new political structure this past fall, the CEO and leader of the country’s largest gambling company, OPAP, has elected to step down, refusing to be part of the scheme. As OPAP’s largest shareholder is the Greek government, which holds 34 percent ownership in the firm, the move was not wholly misplaced, though undoubtedly, the internet gambling industry will miss CEO Christos Hadjiemmanouil’s leadership. His replacement has been chosen, voted for, and appointed this week, and named as Yannis Spanoudakis for the role of chief executive officer. Haris Stamatopoulos will act as new Chairman, and the pair were announced at a general shareholders meeting held to approve the appointments early this week. Hadjiemmanouil himself made the announcement, graciously passing the torch to the new leaders. Spanoudakis is most well-known for his role as the organizer for the Athens 2004 Olympics. He was formally a managing director for the event’s organizing committee, as well as a senior executive with DOW Chemical, bringing a plethora of skills to his new role. His new Chairman, Stamatopoulos, is the former head of the Athens International Airport, and excited to join the online gambling industry, addressing new challenges as they present themselves. OPAP holds the state monopoly for all sports betting and lottery services in Greek, marking it as one of the most powerful gambling firms in all of Europe. Though internet gambling is still technically illegal in the nation, recent years have presented somewhat of a problem to OPAP’s power, as online gambling continues to be both accessible and ridiculously convenient, as well as providing products not offered by OPAP. The group’s monopoly is set to expire in 2010.

01/16/2010

Online Casino Style: News
Head of OPAP Chosen

Some major power changes will take place in the coming weeks in Greece’s internet gambling industry, a direct reaction to the rise of the Socialist government after last October’s election. With the election of the new political structure this past fall, the CEO and leader of the country’s largest gambling company, OPAP, has elected to step down, refusing to be part of the scheme. As OPAP’s largest shareholder is the Greek government, which holds 34 percent ownership in the firm, the move was not wholly misplaced, though undoubtedly, the internet gambling industry will miss CEO Christos Hadjiemmanouil’s leadership.

His replacement has been chosen, voted for, and appointed this week, and named as Yannis Spanoudakis for the role of chief executive officer. Haris Stamatopoulos will act as new Chairman, and the pair were announced at a general shareholders meeting held to approve the appointments early this week. Hadjiemmanouil himself made the announcement, graciously passing the torch to the new leaders.

Spanoudakis is most well-known for his role as the organizer for the Athens 2004 Olympics. He was formally a managing director for the event’s organizing committee, as well as a senior executive with DOW Chemical, bringing a plethora of skills to his new role. His new Chairman, Stamatopoulos, is the former head of the Athens International Airport, and excited to join the online gambling industry, addressing new challenges as they present themselves.

OPAP holds the state monopoly for all sports betting and lottery services in Greek, marking it as one of the most powerful gambling firms in all of Europe. Though internet gambling is still technically illegal in the nation, recent years have presented somewhat of a problem to OPAP’s power, as online gambling continues to be both accessible and ridiculously convenient, as well as providing products not offered by OPAP. The group’s monopoly is set to expire in 2010.