In a blow to Betfair and Ladbrokes' dispute with the Netherlands government over their right to provide gambling services to Dutch citizens, Advocate General Bot of the European Court of Justice said today that Member States could grant a single operator the right to provide gambling services in the country and reaffirmed the State's right to prohibit unlicensed foreign operators from offering such services to its citizens.

The two references for a preliminary ruling sought to determine whether the Netherlands legislation conforms with EC Treaty rules on the freedom to provide services.

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