Key points:
- Slovakia outlaws gambling for Saturday 26 April as part of day of national mourning for Pope Francis
- Land-based operators will be prohibited from conducting gambling activities between 8am and 6pm
- This prohibition aligns with Pope Francis’s funeral service on the 26 April
A statement released by Slovakia’s Gambling Regulatory Authority (URHH) has confirmed that gambling activities in the country will be prohibited on Saturday 26 April – aligning with a day of national mourning for the recently deceased Pope Francis.
The URHH has submitted an official notice to all of Slovakia’s active gambling operators to cease their operations in the nation between the hours of 8am to 6pm on the 26 April – the day of the late Pope’s funeral.
Notably, the authority has exempted online gaming and numerical lottery activities from being impacted by this order – with seemingly only land-based operators being requested to close their doors.
Following his formative years as a qualified chemist and former nightclub bouncer, Pope Francis was elected as the head of the Roman Catholic Church central government – or Holy See – following former Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation from the position in 2013.
Indeed, the Pope Francis was widely regarded as a popular figure both in and outside of the religious community.
Good to know: Controversial prediction market operator Kalshi’s markets identify Italian Cardinal Secretary of State for the Vatican, Pietro Parolin, as the frontrunner to succeed the late pope
Elsewhere in the Slovakian market – the nation also released a vaccination national lottery initiative in 2021.
More recently, 2024 saw a number of gambling conglomerates – including Greentube and Pragmatic Play – expand their content offerings in Slovakia’s market.
