Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin, said today he had decided against mounting a legal challenge to the British lottery regulator's decision to allow rival Camelot Group to continue running the game.
Sir Richard said he had decided not to request a judicial review of the regulator's ruling in order to safeguard the institution of the National Lottery and to protect charities and players.
"Confident though we are, that we could successfully challenge this flawed decision in the courts through a judicial review, we are minded to consider what the wider ramifications of such a move would be," he said in a statement.
Sir Richard said there was a serious risk the lottery would be suspended for a long time and its credibility destroyed if a judicial review sided with The People's Lottery.
He had sought to win the lottery licence with a pledge to give away as much cash as possible to good causes. But last month, the regulator decided to renew Camelot's licence after a stormy selection process.
Camelot won the new licence, to run for seven years, despite having been thrown out of the process in August and only being let back in after a court battle. Both bidders had promised to raise more than £15 billion sterling (euro 23.7 billion) over the course of the licence, but while Camelot will keep a cut of the cash, Branson had promised to give away the maximum to good causes.
He called on the national audit office today to review the selection process, adding that he would not compete for the lottery again.
Reuters