Camelot gets chance for UK lottery challenge

Camelot: chance to stay in UK lottery race

LONDON (Reuters) -- British national lottery organiser Camelot has won the first round of a legal challenge to a decision by regulators to negotiate exclusively with its arch-rival Richard Branson.

High Court judge Justice Elias granted leave to Camelot, the incumbent operator, to seek a judicial review of the National Lottery Commission's decision last week.

The Commission had given Richard Branson's People's Lottery a month to come up with financial guarantees to run the game.

Both sides were waiting to hear whether the judge would also order an end to negotiations between the commission and Branson until the review is carried out.

The move added a fresh twist to a long-running saga over who gets the seven-year licence to run Britain's most popular game. Camelot beat Branson last time around in 1994.

After months of delays, the commission last Wednesday rejected proposals from Camelot and the People Lottery, but gave Branson exclusive rights to clinch a deal.

Camelot reacted furiously and pledged to take the case to court on behalf of its staff, prompting the commission to suspend discussions with the People's Lottery until Tuesday's hearing.

The court decision meant Camelot had a sufficient case for a legal review, although not necessarily that the Lottery Commission acted wrongly.

"This was a fairly low hurdle to clear. They only had to prove they had enough of a case to hear, but we remain confident we followed the correct procedures," said a commission spokesman.

The commission rejected Camelot's proposal over concerns about the propriety of its U.S. software supplier, GTech Corp. Both bidders had pledged to raise more than 15 billion pounds ($22 billion) for good causes over the course of the licence, which will run for seven years from October 2001.

Branson last week urged Camelot to give in gracefully.

"Camelot should consider forgetting going to the courts and bowing out gracefully and letting the People's Lottery get on with the job," he said.

The People's Lottery bid was rejected because of concerns about its financial viability in the event of low sales and because of insufficient assurance about elements of its funding being irrevocably committed.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Branson likely to win lottery prize -- but not yet
August 23, 2000
Powerball winner surrenders to face charges
August 9, 2000

National Lottery Commission

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.