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As the UEFA European Football Championship kicks off, European gambling regulators have warned about sports gambling with illegal operators and the risk of addiction.
The Netherlands, Cyprus, France, Germany and Belgium have all issued statements about safe and legal gambling, particularly aimed at young gamblers.
The Netherlands Gaming Authority (KSA) launched a new campaign called “Don’t Play Games with Your Money” together with the country’s gambling addiction body, Loket Kansspel, and financed by the Addiction Prevention Fund.
Young people are a particular target for the campaign, as it encourages them to take a test online “that provides a realistic insight into their own gambling behaviour and, if necessary, refers them to Loket Kansspel.”
This summer also marks the start of a free blocking software pilot program. Players who ask Loket Kansspel will receive a free two-year subscription to the blocking software Gamban, which will allow them to block all gaming websites.
Similarly in Germany, the Joint Gambling Authority of the States (GGL) issued a warning against gaming with unauthorised operators, stating: “Illegal gambling is not only a criminal offence, it also carries a significant risk of developing a gambling addiction.”
The GGL also took the opportunity to once again call for an “amendment of the criminal code to criminalise illegal gambling.”
A planned criminal law reform would delete a paragraph that currently allows the GGL to file criminal charges.
GGL CEO Ronald Benter reiterated that it instead demands "the necessary extension of the paragraph to illegal gambling providers based abroad".
The GGL has also partnered with the Federal Government Commissioner for Addiction and Drug Issues. "With illegal sports betting, youth and player protection, in particular, falls completely flat, which can mean an increased risk of addiction,“ said federal drug commissioner Burkhard Blienert.
The National Betting Authority (NBA) of Cyprus issued a reminder to players that it has introduced a national self-exclusion platform, which allows players to either temporarily or indefinitely ban themselves from gambling on all legal sites on the island.
The Belgian Gaming Commission declared it "will be extra vigilant during this period and will check both online and offline whether the rules are being complied with”.
France’s National Gaming Authority (ANJ) kicked off its campaign to combat the proliferation of sports-betting advertising ahead of the football tournament and the Olympic Games being held in Paris this summer.
The new campaign features very small print at the top which gets larger as the script goes on, which becomes more legible as it describes a descent into addiction. It reads in part: “The addiction quickly took control of my whole life. I spent hours analyzing and tracking the stats, then one day I really lost it.”
