Morocco: gambling regulation and licensing
Kingdom of Morocco
- Online sports bettingMonopoly
- Horse race bettingMonopoly
- iLotteryMonopoly
- Online casinoUnregulated
- Regulator
- No single national gambling regulator (state operators hold exclusive rights)
- Headline tax
- Not yet verified
- Licence required
- Not yet verified
- Last verified
- 30 Aug 2026
Summary
Morocco is closed by structure rather than by prohibition. There is no single gambling regulator and no licensing process. Instead three state operators hold exclusive rights: La Marocaine des Jeux et des Sports, created in 1962, states that it holds the monopoly on betting on all sporting competitions across the national territory, including virtual sport, except horse and greyhound racing; SOREC runs horse racing and its pari-mutuel pools, including online through E-SOREC; and the Loterie Nationale, established in 1971, runs draw and instant games with online play through eloterie.ma. MDJS sells online itself and contracted SISAL Jeux Maroc in February 2023 to run its sports betting for eight years, renewable for two. Online casino has no licensing route and no verified prohibition, and the state has answered offshore play with tax: a 30 per cent liberatory withholding on foreign-source online gambling winnings since 1 July 2025. The withholding tax on foreign-source winnings is the tell: rather than prohibit or license offshore play, Morocco has chosen to tax it at the player's end. That is an unusual third option and it leaves the legal status of offshore online casino unresolved rather than settled.
Key facts
- Regulator
- No single national gambling regulator (state operators hold exclusive rights)
- Regulator type
- Lottery monopoly
- Headline tax
- Not yet verified
- Licence required
- Not yet verified
- Minimum age
- 18+
- Tax base
- No operator gross-revenue rate is recorded, because there is no licensed private online market to tax and no official schedule was located. What is documented is player-side taxation of offshore play. The 2025 Finance Law created a new category of other revenues and gains covering foreign-source gambling winnings in money or in kind, applying to gains acquired from 1 January 2025, and imposed a 30 per cent liberatory withholding on payments of online gambling winnings from 1 July 2025, collected by credit institutions and other intermediaries in the payment chain.
- Capital
- Rabat
- Currency
- MAD
- Official languages
- Arabic, Amazigh
Legal framework
Primary statutes
Dahir No. 1-65-206 (1966)
- Year
- 1966
- Summary
- Reported by trade coverage as the foundational Moroccan gambling instrument, authorising land-based casinos, lotteries and pari-mutuel betting and leaving the state to decide where, when and to whom games of chance may be offered. No official text was located at review, so the number, date and content are recorded as reported and not as verified. inForce is left null for the same reason.
Secondary instruments
Loi de finances pour 2025 (loi n. 60-24), articles 22, 70 bis, 73 and 160 ter of the General Tax Code
- Year
- 2025
- In force
- Yes
- Summary
- Created a new taxable income category of other revenues and gains that expressly captures foreign-source gambling winnings, in money or in kind, in whatever form. It applies to revenues and gains acquired from 1 January 2025, and imposes a 30 per cent liberatory withholding on payments of online gambling winnings, collected by credit institutions and any other person involved in paying them, with effect from 1 July 2025.
Licensing
- Licence required
- Not yet verified
- Application window
- Not yet verified
- Local establishment required
- Not yet verified
- Local server required
- Not yet verified
- Barriers to entry
- There is nothing to apply for. Sports betting, horse-race betting and lottery are exclusive rights held by state operators, and no licensing process, technical standard or compliance framework for private online gambling was found. The only commercial route observed is to be contracted by a monopoly holder, as SISAL Jeux Maroc was by MDJS in February 2023 to run its sports betting for eight years, renewable for two.
Taxation
- Headline GGR tax
- Not yet verified
- Effective date
- 1 Jul 2025
- Player winnings tax
- A 30 per cent liberatory withholding tax on winnings from foreign online gambling platforms, withheld by credit institutions and other payment intermediaries, in force from 1 July 2025.
- Tax base
- No operator gross-revenue rate is recorded, because there is no licensed private online market to tax and no official schedule was located. What is documented is player-side taxation of offshore play. The 2025 Finance Law created a new category of other revenues and gains covering foreign-source gambling winnings in money or in kind, applying to gains acquired from 1 January 2025, and imposed a 30 per cent liberatory withholding on payments of online gambling winnings from 1 July 2025, collected by credit institutions and other intermediaries in the payment chain.
Compliance
- Minimum age
- 18+
- National self-exclusion
- Not yet verified
- KYC requirements
- The 18 recorded here comes from trade reporting on land-based casinos, which describes identification checks on entry and a discretionary right to refuse entry. It was not confirmed against Moroccan law and should not be relied on for online play.
- Stake limits
- Not yet verified
Advertising
- Advertising permitted
- Not yet verified
Restrictions
- There is no single gambling regulator and no licensing process, so there is no advertising code governing a licensed commercial market.
- Three state operators hold exclusive rights and are the only entities with lawful products to promote: La Marocaine des Jeux et des Sports for sports betting, SOREC for horse racing, and the Loterie Nationale for draw and instant games.
- MDJS states that its monopoly covers betting on all sporting competitions across the national territory, including virtual sport, other than horse and greyhound racing.
- Online casino has no licensing route and no verified prohibition, so the advertising position for that vertical is unresolved rather than settled.
- Rather than prohibit or license offshore play, Morocco has taxed it: a 30% liberatory withholding applies to foreign-source online gambling winnings since 1 July 2025.
Enforcement
- ISP blocking
- Not yet verified
- DNS blocking
- Not yet verified
- Payment blocking
- Not yet verified
- App store takedowns
- Not yet verified
Notable actions
- Unlicensed offshore sports betting platforms serving Moroccan players, including 1xBet
MDJS has brought judicial proceedings to compel Moroccan telecoms operators to block access to unauthorised betting platforms. Its director general put illegal betting volumes at about 3.5 billion dirhams in 2024, with an estimated 500 million dirhams lost to the National Sports Development Fund and 200 million dirhams to the treasury. The Office des Changes identified electronic gaming as a priority enforcement area for 2025.
Outlook
Two things to watch. The first is enforcement: MDJS is in court trying to force telecoms operators to block unauthorised betting sites, which would be a step change from a purely fiscal response. The second is the record itself. Morocco is the thinnest record in this batch on purpose. The founding dahir, the licensing basis for land-based casinos and the statutory minimum age could not be confirmed against official Moroccan sources at review, so they are either marked as reported or left null rather than asserted.
Frequently asked questions
- Can a private operator be licensed in Morocco?
- No route to a Moroccan online gambling licence was found. Sports betting, horse-race betting and lottery are exclusive rights held by state operators, and the only observed commercial route is to be contracted by one of them.
- Are winnings from foreign betting sites taxed in Morocco?
- Yes. Since 1 July 2025 a 30 per cent liberatory withholding tax applies to payments of foreign-source online gambling winnings, collected by credit institutions and other payment intermediaries under the 2025 Finance Law.
Sources
- Notre mission
La Marocaine des Jeux et des Sports (MDJS) (translated)
MDJS states the monopoly but cites no dahir or decree for it. The legal instrument behind the monopoly is not asserted here from this source.
Tier 1Accessed 4 Aug 2026 - Signature du contrat de gestion de l exploitation des jeux entre la MDJS et SISAL Jeux Maroc pour les paris sportifs au Maroc
La Marocaine des Jeux et des Sports (MDJS) (translated)
Tier 1Accessed 4 Aug 2026Published 8 Feb 2023 - SOREC, Societe Royale d Encouragement du Cheval
SOREC (translated)
Confirms SOREC identity and its E-SOREC and SOREC Jeux online betting platforms. It does not state the legal instrument that created it or the scope of any monopoly, so neither is asserted from this source.
Tier 1Accessed 4 Aug 2026 - Loterie Nationale du Maroc
Loterie Nationale (translated)
Tier 1Accessed 4 Aug 2026 - Maroc: les principales mesures importantes de la loi de finances pour 2025
Deloitte Societe d Avocats (translated)
Tier 3Accessed 4 Aug 2026 - Le Maroc instaure une taxe sur les gains des jeux de hasard en ligne etrangers
Hespress FR (translated)
Tier 4Accessed 4 Aug 2026Published 4 Dec 2024 - Paris sportifs illegaux: la MDJS impose des sanctions inedites
Les Infos (lesinfos.ma) (translated)
Tier 4Accessed 4 Aug 2026 - Morocco: a unique approach to gambling regulation
Global Gambling News
Sole support for the 1966 dahir reference, the land-based casino position and the minimum age of 18. None of these could be corroborated against an official Moroccan source at review, and they are recorded as reported rather than verified.
Tier 4Accessed 4 Aug 2026Published 19 May 2025