William Hill, one of the UK's largest bookmakers, has applied for a licence to operate a network of betting outlets in Greece.

The bookmaker has submitted an application to the Greek Government in the hope of challenging the monopoly held by OPAP, the Greek lottery and football pools operator.

William Hill criticised the "privileged position" of OPAP.

"This application has been made on the basis of the free movement of services and freedom of establishment under EU law," the bookmaker said in a statement.

"The current monopoly position enjoyed by OPAP, an Athens stock exchange-listed company, cannot be justified on the basis of public interest issues."

William Hill, which has more than 2,100 outlets throughout the UK, is seeking authorisation to open betting shops in Greece and to operate a bookmaking licence under the same terms as those governing OPAP.

An application to operate in Greece by Stanley Leisure, the British casino operator, was turned down in 2005.

However, William Hill hoped to strengthen its case by citing a ruling last month by the European Court of Justice which held that gaming laws in Italy — where companies must have a licence and police authorisation to collect bets — were too restrictive.

"William Hill believes that the Greek State is bound to accept both requests on the basis of EU legislation, as construed by the European Court of Justice and especially in its recent Placanica judgment," it said.

The Placanica ruling, which prohibited Italy from prosecuting bookmakers based elsewhere in Europe, was welcomed by private-sector bookmakers seeking to establish a presence in the betting market on the Continent.

The Greek Government has a 34.4 per cent holding in OPAP.

Under the terms of its 20-year contract with the state, OPAP holds the sole concession for operating all numeric lottery and sport betting games.

William Hill questioned OPAP's "exclusive rights", as safeguarded in the contract, and called for the agreement to be suspended if today's application was rejected.

"In the event that the Greek authorities do not grant the requests made by William Hill, this position will clearly breach EU law and therefore be untenable," it said.

Basil Neiadas, the chief executive of OPAP, said that the Government would not grant William Hill a licence because of the monopoly agreement, according to Imerisia, a Greek daily newspaper.

Shares in William Hill were down 0.08 per cent at 634.5p.

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