UAE Sports Betting — The First Licensed Sportsbook

The opening of the legal sports betting market

On 28 November 2025, the GCGRA granted Coin Technology Projects LLC its Sports Wagering licence alongside the Internet Gaming licence. Play971 went fully operational on 15 December 2025 with sportsbook markets active from launch. This is the UAE’s first ever licensed online sports betting operator.

Until that moment, UAE residents had no legal route to wager on sports off-course. International bookmakers (Bet365, William Hill, etc.) priced UAE-relevant markets but could not legally accept UAE residents’ wagers, and using them exposed players to Federal Decree-Law No. 31 of 2021 penalties. That route still exposes players. Play971 is now the only legal channel.

Sports covered on Play971

• Football — UEFA Champions League, English Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, AFC Asian Cup, ADNOC Pro League, FIFA World Cup qualifiers. The biggest market by volume.
• Cricket — IPL, T20 World Cup, PSL, BBL, international Test and ODI series. Second-biggest by volume thanks to the UAE’s South Asian population.
• Horse racing — Meydan, international Group fixtures, Dubai World Cup specials. Growing as Play971 builds out the market.
• Tennis — All four Grand Slams, Dubai Tennis Championships, ATP/WTA tour. Singles and doubles markets.
• Motorsport — Formula 1 with full Abu Dhabi Grand Prix coverage, MotoGP, F2/F3 feeder series. Race-by-race and championship outright markets.
• Basketball — NBA, EuroLeague, FIBA tournaments.
• eSports — CS:GO, Dota 2, LoL major tournaments. Smaller but growing market.
• Other — UFC/MMA, boxing, golf majors, NFL during the season.

Market types available

• Match outright — win/draw/win (1X2), Asian handicap, both teams to score.
• Player props — goals, assists, cards, shots on target. Wider availability on featured fixtures.
• Live in-play — markets that update during the match. Coverage narrower than mature international books but expanding.
• Futures — league winner, top scorer, championship outright. Markets open weeks ahead.
• Race markets — win, place, exacta, trifecta for horse racing.

Odds, stakes, and payment

Odds quoted in decimal format (e.g. 2.50 = your stake back plus 1.5x). Minimum stake AED 5 on most markets. Maximum stake varies by market and account history; standard accounts cap around AED 5,000-10,000 per single bet, with higher limits via VIP / enhanced KYC.

Settlement to AED account balance within minutes of fixture conclusion. Withdrawal to UAE bank in 24-72 hours via the same rails as the casino side.

Sportradar & data integrity

Play971’s sportsbook is powered by Sportradar for live data, odds, and integrity monitoring. Sportradar provides the same data feed to most major regulated bookmakers globally, so odds movement on Play971 generally tracks the broader market within reason.

Responsible gaming on the sportsbook

Same GCGRA-mandated tools as the casino side: deposit limits, time-outs, six-month minimum self-exclusion, reality checks, and Takalam referral. Sports-specific patterns (sustained losses on accumulators, chasing across many small markets) are monitored under the same behavioural review framework.

Frequently asked questions

Last verified 4 June 2026.

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