Said the decision was fundamentally wrong
Legal action has been launched by Camelot after it lost the licence to run the National Lottery.
It is making a High Court legal challenge to the Gambling Commission’s decision to award the National Lottery licence to Czech-based company Allwyn.
Camelot said it was taking the action because it believed the decision had been fundamentally wrong.
Nigel Railton, chief executive of Camelot, said: “When we received the result, we were shocked by aspects of the decision.
“Despite lengthy correspondence, the commission has failed to provide a satisfactory response. We are therefore left with no choice but to ask the court to establish what happened.
“Irrespective of Camelot’s dual roles as current operator and applicant for the next National Lottery licence, the competition is one of the largest UK government-sponsored procurements and the process deserves independent scrutiny.
“Separately, more than 1,000 Camelot employees work tirelessly to successfully operate the National Lottery under the current licence and, at the very least, they are owed a proper explanation.”
The Gambling Commission responded by saying the process had been conducted fairly and lawfully.
“We regret Camelot’s decision to bring legal proceedings following the outcome of a highly successful competition for the fourth National Lottery licence,” the regulator said in a statement.
“The competition and our evaluation have been carried out fairly and lawfully in accordance with our statutory duties, and we are confident that a court would come to that conclusion.
“We have taken every step possible to ensure a level playing field for all interested parties, to enable us to appoint a licensee who will engage and protect players, run the National Lottery with integrity and ensure the National Lottery continues to support good causes and their contribution to society.
“Our priority is to continue to work to implement our decision and ensure a seamless and timely transition to the next licence, for the benefit of participants and good causes.
“These proceedings will not help that, but we trust that Camelot will honour its obligations as the current licensee to co-operate in that transition, and we will continue to use the tools available to us to facilitate that process.”
