Lausanne won’t be getting its own casino after all
Following a decision by the Swiss Federal Council, the Lausanne region is entitled to a new type A concession to open a casino in the near future. However, while a new gambling establishment was supposed to be built by 2025, the municipality of the city on the shores of Lake Geneva decided to veto the project.
The city of Lausanne says “no” to the construction of a new casino
In 2002, 2003 and again in 2012, the Swiss Federal Council awarded casino gaming concessions to no fewer than twenty-one gaming houses. Three years ago, the same council extended the concessions of eleven of these establishments to allow them to operate a new casino. offer online casino games.
Of the three candidates vying for the management and operation of a new grand casino in Lausanne, only two now remain…. The municipality has vetoed the project, which was to be built in the city center. And this has upset its promoter, the French casino group Partouche, which has literally lost a fantastic opportunity to set up a complex in Lausanne…
” I am extremely frustrated and angry ” Fabrice Paire, chairman of the group’s management board, told Keystone-ATS. ” This is quite a blow for us. We don’t understand what has happened to the Lausanne municipality. The city’s dogmatic stance is a mystery to us. “continued Partouche’s most influential man, recalling that he had developed the prevention aspect of the dossier and proposed to directly finance a project for Lausanne’s youth in partnership with local tennis player Stan Wawrinka.
Not enough guarantees regarding addiction risks
What if Partouche had simply stumbled on a completely different philosophy? In Switzerland, the protection of young players is not a vague concept, but a reality. The usual tricks that French casino operators like to pull are of little value to the Swiss.
Be that as it may, following several discussions with the syndic Grégoire Junod and a lengthy presentation of the dossier to the municipal councillors, the city of Lausanne replied “Niet”. Informed of the municipality’s refusals refusal to implement the Flon project, the Commission Fédérale des Maisons de Jeu buried it once and for all (the approval of the municipality in which the project is located is essential for such an operation to go ahead).
It should be remembered that syndic Grégoire Junod had expressed his circumspection as soon as the Partouche group announced that it would submit a bid. The latter feared that the young clientele would be exposed to the risk of gambling addiction, as they frequent the Flon district late into the night.
