If you’ve searched for Mezzo Bet recently, you’ve probably wondered whether it’s still legal in Ethiopia. The short answer is that no sports betting operator is, and the reasons go back to December 2025.
The crackdown that ended licensed betting
The shutdown happened in two steps. On 4 December 2025 the Ethiopian Lottery Service suspended 22 operators after intelligence from security services, then on 15 December it revoked every sports betting licence and ordered payment gateways and banks to block betting transactions.
The stated reasons were serious. Authorities pointed to licence breaches and illicit financial transfers as national security threats, and arrests followed in a probe into more than one hundred billion birr in allegedly concealed revenue and taxes. The order covered both physical betting shops and online services. One industry source counted 196 licensed betting companies before the crackdown.
So where does Mezzo Bet fit?
I couldn’t find any reliable news report or regulator statement naming Mezzo Bet specifically, whether it was among the 22 suspended firms, or whether it ever held an Ethiopian licence. That silence matters, so treat claims about the brand’s history with caution.
What can be said comes from a third-party review site. It reports that Mezzo Bet publishes no company name or licence number on its website, so the platform can’t be tied to any regulator. The same review notes that no Ethiopian regulator handles complaints against it, leaving customer support as the only route. That site is not an official source, so verify independently.
The regulator’s position is unambiguous. In July 2026 the Lottery Service said that no sports betting organisation operating in Ethiopia holds a legal licence. Any site claiming otherwise should raise a red flag. One gambling-regulation guide advises that you should assume any site claiming a local licence is fraudulent.
The market went underground, not away
The ban didn’t remove demand. Investigators say illegal betting has continued, with 20 billion birr transacted on the black market in September 2026 alone, four times the 2023 figure. Industry voices describe the same shift: one executive said the ban did not eliminate demand, and the activity simply moved elsewhere. Offshore and unlicensed sites now fill the gap, and Mezzo Bet appears to be one of them.
The risks for bettors are real. Without a licensed operator, there is no local dispute body, no consumer protection, and, as one industry figure put it, no responsible gambling infrastructure in Ethiopia right now. Scammers have also exploited the vacuum, which prompted the regulator’s reminder notice.
What happens next?
Change may be coming. Ethiopia is preparing to relaunch sports betting and digital lotteries under a new regulatory framework with digital monitoring, but no restart date has been announced. Earlier in the year, a state minister told parliament that permanently blocking betting was “impossible” given global conditions. Meanwhile, the final sports law gazetted on 3 July left out the disputed betting clause, avoiding a dual oversight role for the Ministry of Culture and Sports alongside the Lottery Service.
If a licensing round opens, operators like Mezzo Bet would need to apply like everyone else. Past licences won’t carry over, since all were revoked.
The takeaway
Mezzo Bet has no known Ethiopian licence, and no operator can legally hold one right now. If you use it or a similar site, you do so without regulatory protection, so be cautious with deposits and personal data. For official updates, follow the Ethiopian Lottery Service rather than operator marketing.
