After reporting yearly revenues back in February and citing a ‘challenging year’ for 2016, sports betting company William Hill has now decided to remove their services from Poland. A letter was sent to affiliates and customers this week stating that after the most recent regulatory developments in Poland, William Hill will no longer be accepting business from customers located in the country after the 1st of April.

According to the letter, none of the products offered by William Hill will be available after the 1st and players will need to withdraw any funds from accounts by the end of this month. Once April 1st arrives, any players with funds in their William Hill account will need to contact customer service in order to withdraw funds. Affiliates are to remove marketing material from websites, such as text links and banners that are related to players in Poland.

Officials of William Hill went on to state that they value the cooperation, as well as contributions, of players and affiliates and they are confident that they will be able to work in Poland in the future. In the meantime, customers as well as affiliates are encouraged to speak to the customer support team or affiliate manager with any questions or assistance needs.

William Hill reiterated that all products in Poland will be blocked as of April 1st, advising players to remove funds as accounts will be suspended at that time. The company apologized for any inconvenience this may have caused and has emphasized that the decision was due to legal regulations that are beyond the company’s control. If legal circumstances were to change, William Hill has plans to immediately inform customers of such changes. The full letter by William Hill can be read here.

The legislative chambers of Polish parliament approved amendments to the Gambling Act of the country in December with the act to take effect by April 1st, within the online gambling industry as well as the land-based gaming venues. As far as online gambling is concerned, Totalizator Sportowy remains the monopoly in the country, having control of the entire online sector. A new set of restrictions has been created that will block domains and payments from unlicensed gambling sites, with these restrictions to begin on July 1st, 2017.