Egypt parliament moves to criminalise online betting

Egypt is preparing to put online betting explicitly into the Cybercrime Law, with penalties that senior MPs say could reach life imprisonment in the most serious cases. For PSPs and payment teams, the important bit is not the legislative theatre; it is that Egypt is moving from a vague ban on gambling to a clearer framework aimed at apps, offshore platforms, and the payment paths that keep them alive.

1. Egypt already prohibits gambling for its own citizens, but the current framework was built for physical venues, not online betting. The Civil Code voids gambling contracts, the Penal Code criminalises gambling activity, and hotel-casino legislation only allows a narrow exception for foreign passport holders in licensed casinos.
2. Online gambling remains illegal for locals, yet enforcement has lagged. The source says many Egyptians still use offshore sportsbooks through VPNs and foreign payment channels, while existing laws do not address online gambling directly. That gap has been the subject of years of parliamentary complaints about Arabic-language platforms operating under foreign licences.
3. In May 2026, Ahmed Badawi, chair of the House Communications and Information Technology Committee, said the government is expected to submit amendments to the Cybercrime Law that would explicitly criminalise online betting applications. The proposed amendments would name electronic gambling directly and introduce much tougher penalties.
4. According to Badawi, the maximum sentences in the most serious cases, including organised criminal networks and large-scale fraud, could reach life imprisonment. For payment providers, that matters because the draft is clearly aimed at the online distribution layer, not just at physical gambling operations.
5. The blocking campaign is already under way. In February 2026, Badawi said the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority and the Supreme Council for Media Regulation were working to block about 80% of online betting applications, based on technical reports prepared with his committee. Russian-licensed 1xBet was blocked on Google Play and the App Store in September 2024 after complaints and recommendations from parliament’s communications committee, and in early 2026 Badawi said similar action was being taken against MelBet.

There is also a clear regulatory signal here: Badawi has said the goal is not to block technology in general but to shut down harmful services, and that blocked betting apps would not be allowed back. In other words, Egypt is not just talking about enforcement; it is building a legal basis for it.