Egypt Online Betting Crackdown Could Bring Life Terms
In May 2026, Ahmed Badawi, chair of the House Communications and Information Technology Committee, said the government is expected to submit Cybercrime Law amendments that would explicitly criminalise online betting applications. In the most serious cases tied to organised criminal networks and large-scale fraud, maximum sentences could reach life imprisonment. Online gambling is already illegal for Egyptian citizens, but existing law does not address online betting directly, leaving enforcement reliant on app-store removals and wider blocking efforts.
Blocking Campaign Already Underway
The legislative push builds on an active blocking campaign. In February 2026, Badawi said the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority and the Supreme Council for Media Regulation were at work to block around 80% of online betting applications, based on technical reports prepared with his committee.
Russian-licensed 1xBet, which promoted itself heavily in Egypt through influencers and social media, was removed from Google Play and the App Store in September 2024 following complaints and recommendations from parliament’s communications committee. In early 2026, Badawi said similar action was under way against MelBet as part of a broader takedown effort.
Badawi has stated that blocked betting apps will not be allowed to return, and that new legislation is in preparation to close the loopholes that allowed them to spread.
Three-Tier Penalty Model on the Table
The clearest indication of how penalties could be structured comes from a separate bill tabled in January 2025 by Martha Mahrous, deputy chair of the same committee. Her draft sets out three tiers of liability.
Agents and de facto managers who act for bettors would face two to five years in prison and fines from EGP1 million ($20,099) to EGP5 million. Payment facilitators would face up to six months in prison and fines between EGP50,000 and EGP200,000. Those who run, sponsor, or implement betting platforms would face two to five years in prison and fines from EGP5 million to EGP10 million.
“We are facing a kind of addiction, and scientifically we treat the young person as addicted to these practices,” Mahrous said in a television interview.
Badawi has since confirmed the government is at work on its own amendments rather than the adoption of the Mahrous text. The two proposals are not identical, and Mahrous’ bill has not advanced to a full House debate.
Timeline and Key Gaps
The House has not set a date for the tabling or vote on the government’s amendments. Badawi previously indicated the text would be submitted after Eid al-Adha, which fell in June 2026, but no draft had appeared on the parliamentary agenda as of late June.
No official text has yet explained how Egypt will handle VPN access, user-side fines, or the liability standard for banks and electronic payment providers. The Mahrous draft assumes a knowledge-based standard for facilitators, but payment providers have not publicly explained how they would apply that in practice.
If the government follows the Mahrous model even loosely, Egypt would move toward one of the toughest online betting enforcement regimes in the region.
💡TGJ Take
Egypt’s direction raises the risk level for any offshore sportsbook that relies on Arabic-language platforms, local agents, or indirect payment routes into markets with a gambling ban. The shift from app-store removals to criminal statutes with potential life sentences for the worst offences is not a minor upgrade in enforcement posture. Affiliates should treat Egypt-facing traffic as a liability exposure, not a growth opportunity. Payment providers need to monitor the final wording closely: a knowledge-based liability standard for facilitators could turn weak merchant screening into a criminal matter, not just a compliance issue.
