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A gambler in Zimbabwe counted some of his gains at the table after betting on a European soccer match days before the majority of professional football leagues were suspended due to the Coruna epidemic. (Harare, March 19).
Football betting markets around the world have been hit hard by the suspension of major professional leagues due to Covid-19 disease caused by the Coruna virus.
But for some gamblers, forced betting closings and cancellation of sports matches were a good opportunity to save some money.
“It helped me save some money, because the amount I would have lost (in the bet) stayed with you,” Mishak, the owner of an internet cafe in western Kenya, told BBC Sport Africa.
“I was betting on the English Premier League, the Turkish League, the Bundesliga, the Spanish League, and all the major leagues up to the Brazilian League, Chile, Basketball, and Ice Hockey.”
However, the amount that Meshak saves per day, which ranges between 10-30 USD, is not equivalent to his dreams of a different life if his expectations for gambling are fulfilled.
“For us, we young people, and for most Kenyans also, there are no jobs, so you put your dreams in bets. You may win the grand prize and change your life, but this dream may be destroyed now,” says Meshak.
The betting and gambling stores in eastern African countries have witnessed major losses due to the epidemic.
“We have lost about 99 percent of our sales, because the majority of people here are not so much interested in betting on the Internet,” Evan Callanzi, brand ambassador for the sports betting site GAL, told the BBC.
“We don’t have many (online gamblers) in Kenya or Tanzania, where we have betting shops,” he added.
As a result, the industry generates at least $ 20 million in annual revenue in Kenya, $ 12 million in Uganda, and about $ 10 million in Tanzania.
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