Microsoft 365 Outage Disrupts Mauritius Racing Regulator GRA
A global Microsoft 365 outage hit Mauritius's Gambling Regulatory Authority on Friday, raising concerns over Saturday's scheduled horse racing day.
A worldwide outage affecting Microsoft 365 services, including Outlook and SharePoint, left Mauritius's Gambling Regulatory Authority facing significant technical disruptions from Friday morning, 14 November 2025.
The GRA, which stands for the Gambling Regulatory Authority, is the government body responsible for overseeing all forms of licensed gambling in Mauritius, including horse racing, casinos and sports betting. It operates under the Ministry of Finance and operates a range of digital systems to coordinate racing schedules, licensing and communications.
The technical failure was not isolated to Mauritius. Microsoft confirmed a global degradation of its cloud-based Microsoft 365 platform, which millions of organisations around the world depend on for email, file sharing and internal communications. Services affected included Outlook, used for official correspondence, and SharePoint, commonly used to store and share documents internally.
For the GRA, the timing was particularly difficult. A horse racing day was scheduled for Saturday 15 November at the Champ de Mars racecourse in Port Louis, one of the oldest racecourses in the Southern Hemisphere and a central part of the Mauritian sporting and social calendar. Racing days require close coordination between the GRA, the Mauritius Turf Club and licensed operators, much of which relies on digital communications.
The authority issued an apology to stakeholders and the public for any inconvenience caused by the disruption, acknowledging that normal operations could not be guaranteed while the Microsoft outage persisted.
At the time of reporting, it was not yet confirmed whether Saturday's racing programme would be affected or cancelled. The GRA indicated it was monitoring the situation and working to manage the disruption as best it could.
What this means: Horse racing is not just a sport in Mauritius. It is a regulated industry involving licensed bookmakers, thousands of bettors and significant public revenue. Any disruption to the GRA's operations can have a downstream effect on race scheduling, betting approvals and operator communications. Bettors and racing fans planning to attend or place wagers on Saturday were advised to follow official updates from the GRA and the Mauritius Turf Club before making plans.
Source: Le Defi Media
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the GRA in Mauritius?β
The GRA, or Gambling Regulatory Authority, is the Mauritian government body that regulates all licensed gambling activities in the country, including horse racing at the Champ de Mars in Port Louis, casinos and sports betting. It was established under the Gambling Regulatory Authority Act 2007.
Did the Microsoft outage affect Saturday horse racing in Mauritius?β
The outage created uncertainty around the horse racing day scheduled for Saturday 15 November at the Champ de Mars racecourse in Port Louis. The GRA apologised for the disruption and was assessing whether the programme would proceed as planned.
What Microsoft services were affected by the global outage?β
The global Microsoft 365 outage affected services including Outlook, used for email, and SharePoint, used for document sharing. These are tools widely used by organisations in Mauritius and around the world for day-to-day operations.
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