.svg)
UPDATE 14:00 - Comment from Sauber added.
The Netherlands Gambling Authority (KSA) has said it is “urgently” warning Formula One, Team Sauber and the Dutch Grand Prix that they should not promote unlicensed, and therefore, illegal online gambling operator Stake.com during this weekend’s racing event in the Netherlands.
It is illegal to promote or advertise unlicensed gambling in the Netherlands.
Stake has applied geoblocking, as it should as an unlicensed operator, but the gambling regulator said that it has found that some Dutch residents can nonetheless gamble on its websites.
“The KSA therefore finds it undesirable that illegal gambling is advertised at a Dutch event with the reach and size of Formula 1, also because the event attracts a lot of attention among vulnerable groups, minors and young adults”, the regulator wrote on Wednesday (August 20).
Sauber’s official name is Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber.
Formula 1 did not return a request for comment in time for publication, nor did Stake.com.
A spokesperson for Sauber told Vixio: "The team is always complying with all applicable local and global rules, and will continue to do so."
Kick streaming service itself is owned by two co-owners of Stake, and has attracted controversy for its streaming of online gambling, with critics claiming the site is not adequately monitored for underage viewers.
The racing event runs this Friday (August 23) through to Sunday (August 25).
Separately, Dutch online gambling licensee Circus.nl was asked to withdraw a YouTube advertisement that was considered to be improperly suggesting that gambling leads to “social acceptance and happiness”.
The Advertising Code Committee decided that a video in which a “Mr Circus” appears to a man sitting in a café surrounded by cheering sports fans who are asked “Do you feel down?” and “Do you know what you need?”.
The answer is “a little circus” and a bet.
The committee did not accept Circus Sport and Casino’s defence that the man was actually asked “Feeling blue?” because he was wearing a blue jersey and that the video did not encourage excessive gambling.
