Anjouan Gambling regulator hits back at illegal operators and black market claims

SMF wants gambling harm implemented into national health policies

British betting firms “considering all options” to prevent Financial Risk Assessments

Lack of sustainable funding sees GamCare close Young People’s provision

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GamCare has announced that it will no longer provide its Young People’s provision services later this year due to a lack of sustainable funding.

At the end of September, GamCare will stop providing education, prevention or outreach programmes aimed at reducing gambling harm experienced by children and young people, or its specific treatment and support offer for under-18s.

The gambling harm support provider has been offering these services for children and young people for more than half a decade.

“For over five years, GamCare has delivered harm prevention programmes which have reached over 250,000 children and young people, parents, and professionals across the UK,” stated GamCare.

“Due to a lack of sustainable funding, GamCare has made the difficult decision to close its Young People’s provision at the end of September 2025.”

Statutory levy

Back in April, the UK Government implemented the new statutory levy on the gambling industry, which replaced the previous system of voluntary industry contributions.

Through the levy, up to £100m per year is expected to be raised, which will be collected and administered by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) under the strategic direction of the UK Government.

To generate funding for the levy, operators will be charged a percentage of their gross gambling yield from the previous year. These percentages are 1.1% for online operators, 0.5% for casinos and bookmakers and 0.2% for bingo operators.

Splitting up the levy funding, 20% will go to the Research Commissioner, UK Research and Innovation, to research to establish a bespoke Research Programme on Gambling, as well as the UKGC, to direct further research in line with licensing objectives.

The Prevention Commissioner, Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID), will receive 30% of the levy funding. OHID will develop a comprehensive approach to prevention and early intervention.

Meanwhile, 50% of the levy funding will go to the Treatment Commissioner, NHS England and relevant bodies in Scotland and Wales, who will commission treatment and support services in collaboration with the third sector.

Support still available for young people

GamCare added that while specialist services for young people will come to a halt later this year, its Youth Advisory Board will continue to operate to make sure that young people’s voices continue to inform its work, adding that it “remains committed to reducing gambling harm and none of our other services are affected by this change”.

“Children, young people and their families can still seek support by contacting the National Gambling Helpline on Freephone 0808 8020 133 or via live chat, available 24/7, and we will signpost them to the appropriate support for their circumstances,” noted GamCare.

“GamCare’s core focus will continue to be the provision of high-quality, accessible support to the thousands of people who come through our services each year, both those who are struggling with gambling directly as well as those who are affected by someone else’s gambling.”

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UK Gambling Commission fines Fafabet £170,000 for T&Cs failures

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The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has issued a £170,000 fine to Taichi Tech Limited, which trades as Fafabet, for regulatory failures, including the use of unfair terms and conditions.

Taichi Tech, which has been licensed by the Commission since February 2021, will also be subject to a third-party audit to check that it is complying with anti-money laundering and safer gambling policies, procedures and controls.

The UKGC investigation once again raises the issue of fair, clear and transparent terms and conditions by operators following the High Court case involving Paddy Power earlier this year.

T&Cs lacked transparency

According to the investigation, the UKGC discovered that Taichi Tech contained the following statement within their bonus terms for new casino promotions:

“Fafabet have the right at their own discretion to close accounts or forfeit winnings.”

The Commission concluded from its investigation that Taichi Tech breached the fair and open licensing condition by “including a discretionary term allowing the operator to close customer accounts or forfeit winnings without clear justification”, adding that these kinds of terms “lack transparency and may lead to unfair outcomes for consumers”.

The UKGC noted that the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP) that operators must abide by refer to the general consumer protection legislation of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (CRA).

The LCCP states that licensees must ensure their terms and practices are “fair, clear, and do not breach consumer protection law” and so “must therefore have regard to the CRA as part of their overall compliance obligations under the LCCP”.

John Pierce, Director of Enforcement and Intelligence at the Gambling Commission, said: “We expect all operators — regardless of their size or customer base — to comply with consumer protection legislation and ensure their terms and conditions meet regulatory standards.

“Licensed operators must ensure their terms are clear, fair, and transparent, so customers fully understand what to expect.”

AML and social responsibility failures

The UKGC noted that its investigation also discovered AML and social responsibility breaches, including failures to “effectively manage risk and implement adequate consumer protection measures”.

These failures included some customers gambling large sums in a short period despite the operator holding limited customer information, individuals exhibiting potential markers of harm (such as high-velocity spending over short periods) being given “insufficient customer interaction from the operator”.

In addition, the Commission noted that the operator didn’t further follow-up or intervene with customers they had sent safer gambling emails to but who didn’t respond and their concerning behaviour continued.

In response, the UKGC stated that Fafabet “acknowledged that it previously fell short of the standards expected” and has since “taken steps to address these shortcomings”.

Fafabet is required to commission an independent third-party audit to assure ongoing compliance with all relevant regulatory requirements as part of the regulatory outcome.

Operator T&Cs highlighted again

Fafabet’s fine from the UKGC is another reminder that operators must make sure that their terms and conditions are fair, clear and transparent.

Back in March, Paddy Power lost a High Court case and was ordered to pay customer Corrinne Pearl Durber compensation of £1m in relation to a disputed pay-out of a “Monster Jackpot.”

Durber was denied a jackpot of £1.097m that she won on the slot game Wild Hatter with the operator, who opted instead to only initially pay her £20,000 due to what they claimed to be a “software error” which caused an incorrect display.

The court ruled in favour of Durber, stating that the rules advertised to customers should take precedence over the company’s terms and conditions, noting that Paddy Power’s “terms were not clearly signposted”.

The court added that Clause B1 – which stated that, in the event of a discrepancy between the screen display and the server records, the server records would be definitive – was “buried in 44 pages of dense text” and was an unfair contract term that granted absolute power to the defendant to override errors while excluding the customer’s right to challenge them.

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Kirchner enters term as GGL Chair to advance crackdown on illegal gambling

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Sandro Kirchner has been named the new Chairman of the German gaming regulator – the Administrative Board at the Joint Gambling Authority of the Federal States (GGL).

Kirchner, the current State Secretary in the Bavarian State Ministry of the Interior for Sport and Integration, will immediately take over from Reiner Moser, Head of Office in the Ministry of the Interior for Digitalisation and Municipalities for Baden-Württemberg.

The news comes as the GGL celebrates four-years since its formation following the adoption of the Fourth Interstate Gambling Treaty in 2021. His appointment also comes at a time when tackling illegal gambling stands out as a key priority for the GGL.

Moser, now GGL’s Head of Department, said: “The online gambling market has developed rapidly in recent years. The GGL has met the resulting challenges with great commitment and can already demonstrate remarkable results both in combating illegal gambling and in regulating and supervising the legal market.

“The exchange between the states and the GGL is always trusting and results-oriented. I would like to sincerely thank the Board of Directors and all GGL employees for this constructive cooperation over the past year.”

During his tenure, Moser promoted digital transformation, leveraging his background in the Ministry of the Interior to support tech-based regulatory tools. He also prioritised player protection and youth gambling.

He has also steered the GGL’s regulatory activities during a tricky adjustment period for Germany’s gambling sector, with operators and the government clashing at times over issues like taxation, advertising, and online casino restrictions.

Each year on 1 July, the Chairmanship of the Board of Directors is transferred to the next member state in alphabetical order, giving Kirchner a year to oversee Germany’s +€14bn gambling market.

Taking the fight against illegal gambling further
Kirchner assumes his leadership as the GGL advances its ambitious agenda, with a focus on enhancing international cooperation to fight illegal gambling as mentioned above.

For example, building on Google’s 2024 ban of unlicensed gambling ads, the GGL is expanding its digital ad monitoring network this year. It has also been advocating for a new legal provision to enable IP-blocking of gambling ads, not just illegal sites.

Kirchner also described the consistent prosecution of illegal offerings and player protection as his highest priorities. He added: “The work of the GGL must continue to be significantly geared towards ensuring that the business model of illegal gambling is not profitable in Germany.

“With regard to his role as Chairman of the Board of Directors, he added: “I look forward to continuing the successful work of everyone involved over the past four years. We will certainly continue to face many challenges. However, I believe the GGL is well positioned to achieve this.”

This week, the GGL also published its 2024 Third Annual Activity Report, which demonstrated concrete data on the size and structure of Germany’s online betting market.

In detail, legal operators recorded total stakes of €8.2bn in 2024, marking a modest rise from €7.9bn the previous year.

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Meta faces criticism over gambling ad transparency

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Meta is facing renewed scrutiny over the advertising policies of its social media platforms, as digital rights campaigners accuse Facebook and Instagram of placing disproportionate restrictions on adverts highlighting gambling-related harms.

The criticism stems from a new report by UK-based digital rights advocacy group, Open Rights Group (ORG), titled “Profiling by Proxy: How Meta’s Data-Driven Ads Fuel Discrimination.”

As reported by iGaming Expert, Meta’s platforms treat public health messaging as political content, triggering heightened transparency rules, while gambling advertisers often bypass comparable oversight.

“Meta requires more transparency about adverts that highlight the harms of gambling than about adverts that promote gambling,” the report states.

The classification of harm-focused ads as political content subjects campaigners to stricter compliance standards, such as identity verification and public disclosure via Meta’s Ad Library.

Meanwhile, commercial gambling ads—including those promoting “social casino” games—are subject to less scrutiny unless they fall into restricted product categories.

ORG’s findings raise red flags around user privacy, especially for vulnerable groups. Through tools like the Meta Pixel, platforms collect extensive behavioural data to construct detailed user profiles, allowing advertisers to micro-target users based on inferred traits. These profiles can reveal addictive behaviors, financial hardship, or mental health vulnerabilities—data points that campaigners argue should never be used to deliver targeted gambling ads.

The timing of the report is significant. In early 2025, the UK High Court ruled in favour of a former problem gambler who accused Sky Bet of unlawfully targeting him using cookies and third-party data. The case reignited calls for tighter ad regulations, particularly as digital platforms become more influential in shaping consumer behaviour.

Responding to these concerns, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) enacted new marketing standards in May 2025. Operators are now required to offer users clear opt-in choices for the types of gambling promotions they receive and through which channels.

As regulators tighten oversight on gambling operators, pressure is mounting for Big Tech to fall in line and take accountability of the matter.

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Exclusive interview: SPA Chief defends Brazil Bets channelisation strategy amid black market chaos

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Article written by Ana Maria Mendes & Elisa Marcante: SBC Noticias Brazil
Regis Dudena, the President of the Secretary of Prizes and Betting (SPA), believes that Brazil has achieved its initial regulatory objectives to launch and govern its nascent online gambling regime.

Interviewed by SBC Notícias Brazil, Dudena gave an account of leading the SPA as the governing authority of the Bets regime while under a glaring spotlight from political parties, federal authorities, operators, and media.

Launched on 1 January 2025, the Bets regime was birthed like no other gambling market — placed under immediate scrutiny over its economic and integrity policies, while its core framework remained unsettled in key areas such as advertising, taxation, and consumer protection.

Despite these uncertainties, Dudena and the SPA have pushed ahead, overseeing a market of 80 licensed operators servicing over 400 brands. He contends that the SPA has laid the groundwork for a more balanced and enforceable regime, helping Brazil transition from an unregulated environment into one of legal oversight and accountability.

Channelling Wagers
Among the more pointed assertions made by Dudena was a rebuttal of claims that Brazil’s black market for online gambling is growing. Far from expanding, he suggested, it is being eroded and steadily replaced by a regulated ecosystem that is gaining ground with Brazilian consumers.

“Today, far more people are entertaining themselves in a regulated environment with authorised and legal operators,” Dudena stated –“We’re observing a trend toward channelisation, not illegal market expansion.”

Despite grey market factors still lingering, Dudena urged observers to judge the system by its long-term trajectory, not by isolated incidents. Enforcement, he argued, must be understood as part of a broader structural shift to drive consumers to licensed operators, in which the SPA will be strengthened by new projects.

The reason why scepticism remains, is due to key regulatory settlements still to be determined. Yet SPA’s record to date suggests that the scaffolding of oversight is, at the very least, being built.

Regulating at Speed
Dudena believes that the SPA is regulating at speed, delivering on a relentless timeline. In less than a year, the agency published licensing protocols, approved market ordinances, mandated data reporting requirements, and launched a programme of operator engagement.

“People joked they didn’t expect us to succeed,” he noted. “But we planned, executed, and delivered on schedule.”

The most formidable challenge has been technical: processing the large volume of operator-reported data via SIGAP, the federal betting data system. Licensed operators must report daily on deposits, payouts, and losses. The backlog has delayed SPA’s first official performance report, but Dudena assured that “quarterly updates will begin shortly and follow a predictable publication cycle.”

R$3bn Vote of Confidence

Dudena’s interview with SBC Noticias Brazil was followed by Agência Brasil publishing the first economic report revealing the Bets regime’s early economic footprint. In the first five months of 2025, tax revenue from regulated betting operations reached R$3bn (approximately €520m) — up from R$7m over the same period in 2024.

May alone saw revenue surge from R$4m to over R$800m, a year-on-year increase of roughly 23,000%.

“The recent R$3 billion figure is irrefutable proof of the market’s economic relevance,” said Rafael Marchetti Marcondes, CLO of fantasy operator Rei do Pitaco told SBC Noticias Brazil.
“In a country seeking new fiscal resources, betting has become a key contributor to public policy funding.”

Single National System
The SPA is pushing ahead with plans to bring the country’s state-run lotteries under a single, centralised framework, as part of its wider effort to professionalise and enforce national compliance standards.

The project dubbed SINAPO (Sistema Nacional de Apostas) — aims to establish baseline requirements across federal and state levels, focusing on critical areas such as anti-money laundering protocols and responsible gambling protections.

To date, 16 states have joined the working group, with participating jurisdictions set to benefit from national regulatory infrastructure, including access to the “.bet.br” domain and Brazil’s forthcoming centralised self-exclusion system — both considered vital to SPA’s consumer protection agenda.

Priorities & Pitfalls
Looking ahead, SPA’s regulatory agenda for the second half of 2025 is dense with infrastructure development and policy refinement. Dudena confirmed that the agency will prioritise the launch of Brazil’s centralised self-exclusion system, regarded as a cornerstone of consumer protection and harm reduction.

Other top-line priorities include the finalisation of a national advertising code of conduct, the deployment of real-time transaction monitoring, and the release of the regime’s first and second quarterly market performance reports.

While SPA can claim early progress on several fronts, the regime’s greatest test may lie beyond its technical capabilities. Fiscal policy, controlled by the Ministry of Finance and Congress, threatens to reshape the economic foundation on which the regulated market rests.

The Senate’s Gamble
Attention now turns to Brazil’s National Congress, where a proposal is under consideration to raise the gross gaming revenue (GGR) tax from 12% to 18% on betting income. The measure is seen as an alternative to increasing the IOF financial transactions tax and forms part of broader fiscal reforms pursued by the Ministry of Finance.

Industry pushback by IBJR, has warned that combined tax pressures when including state (PIS/COFINS, ISS) and corporate income tax will push the effective burden beyond 50%, jeopardising the very channelisation SPA has sought to foster.

For now, Brazil’s Bets regime enjoys political momentum, fiscal backing, and regulatory momentum. Whether that remains the case will depend not only on how the SPA evolves its framework—but on whether policymakers resist the temptation to overplay their fiscal hand.

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UK charity protects next generation from gambling harm

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Gambling harm charity Ygam reached a record number of young people for the year between January 2024 and March 2025.

The organisation’s 10-year anniversary activity report highlighted that it reached approximately 1.3 million children and young people across the UK within that year alone – the highest number since its inception in 2014.

Ygam also reported that it simultaneously managed to provide gambling harm prevention and treatment education to around 10,000 delegates.

In order to ensure its long-term sustainability and inform its future prevention strategy, the charity had also commissioned data-driven evaluation of four of its flagship programmes as part of the report.

Results have shown that Ygam continues to be a trusted partner for problem harm prevention among youth-centric institutions, fostering partnerships with schools, universities, and community groups, among others.

Some of the high profile brands that the charity is working with include The Scouts, NSPCC, The Children’s Society, TSB Bank, Place2Be, and Barnardo’s.

Ygam finds success in education engagement
Continuing with the highlights from the report, Ygam saw 50% of teachers and youth workers implementing the charity’s educational materials in their classrooms within 12 months of completing their training.

Between January 2024 and March 2025, Ygam representatives managed to visit a total of 50 universities across the UK, with around 115,000 university students increasing their knowledge of problem gambling harm.

This is a timely development given last year’s Ygam and GAMSTOP study where it was revealed that 28% of UK students were at risk of problem gambling.

On the digital front, Ygam reached a total of 4.1 million social media impressions between January 2024 and March 2025, which constituted a 322% increase from 2023.

The success of the charity was commemorated by Gambling Minister Baroness Twycross, who said: “I welcome this report, which highlights Ygam’s vital role in educating more than one million young people on how to lead safer digital lives.

“One of my key priorities as gambling minister is to strengthen protections around those most vulnerable to harmful gambling and I look forward to collaborating with Ygam in future as we continue to build a safer online space for young people.”

Ygam and all other gambling charities like it are now operating in a revamped UK market thanks to a new research, education, and treatment (RET) statutory levy mandated by Twycross.

All UK-based gambling businesses will be subjected to mandatory RET contributions, with the first payment scheduled for 1 October. The exact amount will be calculated based on a percentage of a company’s GGR or its equivalent, with 1.1% of GGR for all online operators and 0.1% for pool betting licences.

A total of 50% of the collected funds will be syphoned into NHS England and its Scottish and Welsh counterparts, 30% will go to funding problem gambling prevention strategies, while 20% of the RET levy will be given to gambling harm research.

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Germany maintains a ‘divided house’ on Interstate gambling data

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Online gambling stakeholders in Germany remain split over the data insights of the Fourth Interstate market and its actual exposure to black market threats.

Nearly three years since Germany’s Fourth Interstate Gambling Treaty (GlüStV 2021) came into force, the federal online gambling regime remains troubled by divisions on data, activity and trends.

The Joint Gambling Authority of the German States (GGL), which assumed full oversight in 2022, has released its Third Annual Activity Report for 2024, and the results reveal as much about persistent structural tensions as about progress.

For the first time, the GGL has published concrete figures on both the volume and character of Germany’s online betting market. Legal gambling operators generated €8.2bn in total stakes in 2024, a modest increase from €7.9bn the previous year.

But the more controversial figure was its estimate that unlicensed operators account for roughly “25% of the total market for online gambling” including sports betting, virtual slot machines, and poker.

Mattias Dahms- DSWV
The data represent an improvement in transparency, and was cautiously welcomed by the German Sports Betting Association (DSWV), which has long lobbied for more accountability and disclosure.

“This is clear, official confirmation that the black market has long been a serious structural problem and not a marginal phenomenon,” said Mathias Dahms, Chairman of the DSWV.

Disputed ratios
The DSWV was quick to question the figures themselves. According to studies it commissioned including the influential Schnabl study — the actual black market share may exceed 50%, far above the GGL’s 25% estimate. This divergence reflects not just a disagreement over numbers, but over the nature of Germany’s regulatory strategy.

The trade body argues that the official data obscures the scale and speed of illegal growth, particularly in sports betting. One statistic stands out: the number of illegal German-language sports betting websites increased from 281 to 382 in a single year — a jump of 36%.

In contrast, only 34 licensed websites were listed on the GGL’s official whitelist. “The ratio of legal to illegal sites is around 1 to 11,” said Dahms. “Illegal providers benefit from the fact that they can offer a much wider range of bets—especially in the area of live betting, which is immensely popular. This is precisely why many users switch to these sites.”

These concerns are grounded in the reality of Germany’s highly restringing regulatory model. The DSWV claims that overbearing iGaming regulations, including strict caps on advertising, heavy limitations on live betting and bet types, and low deposit limits have simply made the legal market uncompetitive and structurally less appealing. “The legal market is safer today than ever before,” Dahms adds, “but if it becomes less attractive, users will migrate to illegal offers.”

GGL plays enforcer not lawmaker….
The GGL, for its part, is pressing ahead with its enforcement mandate. Since its operational launch in January 2023, the regulator has rolled out geo-blocking measures under the EU’s Digital Services Act, stepped up payment-blocking enforcement, and launched prohibition proceedings against illegal operators and their advertisers.

The authority also successfully lobbied Google to restrict gambling ads in Germany to licensed providers only, curbing one of the most visible channels for unregulated competition.

However, the GGL’s legal footing is far from stable. As of December 2024, the authority was embroiled in 189 lawsuits — many of them brought by operators contesting licensing decisions, technical restrictions, and advertising bans. These lawsuits absorb considerable resources and reflect broader discontent among industry stakeholders about the rigidity of the current system.

While the GGL is limited by statute to enforcement, it has acknowledged the need for reform. Its 2024 report indicates that recommendations on advertising policy will be shaped by ongoing academic research led by the Public Health faculty of the University of Bremen. The research will inform future proposals balancing player protection with market accessibility. This is the GGL’s preferred route: science-guided, cautious, and consistent with its public health mandate.

Political fault lines
But reform cannot come solely from regulators. In Germany’s federalised legal system, gambling laws operate across overlapping state and national jurisdictions. Any substantive overhaul of the legal framework—including changes to bet offerings, deposit limits or sponsorship guidelines—would need to pass through the Bundestag, Germany’s federal parliament.

This structural reality has led to deepening political debate. Most prominently, controversy has erupted around betting on amateur sports, particularly in football. While some states and operators support permitting such bets under tight supervision, others argue this could invite manipulation and undermine integrity. These debates feed into broader questions over which level of government—federal or state—should define the rules of the game.

Interstate on a diverging path
In 2026, Germany is expected to table a federal law on gambling advertising and sponsorship, which will almost certainly become the next battleground. Stakeholders are already jostling for influence, as the legislation could recalibrate how GlüStV 2021 is interpreted, enforced, and evolved.

In the meantime, both sides claim to be guided by player protection. But their definitions differ. The GGL sees protection as enforcement of uniform, restrictive measures; the DSWV sees it as offering a safe but attractive legal alternative to the black market.

There is, at least, a shared belief in data. “With this figure, the GGL is creating more transparency for the market and the public,” said Dahms. “Fact-based debates… are only possible if we have access to reliable official figures—we expressly welcome this step.”

But clarity has not yet delivered consensus. The GGL remains a strong administrative presence, but its inability to initiate legislative change leaves it vulnerable to political drift. The DSWV, meanwhile, continues to warn that inaction on reform will strengthen the very market that regulation was designed to suppress.

Whether the next phase of German gambling policy results in modernisation, fragmentation, or mere inertia will depend less on enforcement—and more on whether the country’s legislators are willing to match regulation to market reality.

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ACMA sends new TV ad code back to the drawing board

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A move to alter Australia’s TV advertising code for M-rated content, including gambling, has been vetoed by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).

Free TV Australia, a body representing Australia’s commercial free-to-air TV networks, submitted a revised code to the ACMA in March after conducting a review of the Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice 2015.

One of the amendments proposed an extension of the times when M-rated content – which includes alcohol and gambling adverts – would be allowed for broadcasting on commercial TV.

The ACMA highlighted that after reviewing the document with “careful consideration”, it was not satisfied with the level of community safeguards that the revised code offers, essentially rejecting it by concluding that there is potential for children to be subjected to the M-rated content.

Following the rejection, the ACMA further stated that it is commencing its own review of the advertising landscape driven by outstanding community concerns.

The assessment will set out to reveal whether the current code is adequately protecting consumers, and if not – inform future policies on advertising standards.

In the meantime, the ACMA has advised Free TV to refer to the existing gambling advertising rules to ensure that they’re synchronised with its broadcast safeguards.

Furthermore, the media regulator has urged Free TV to extend these safeguards to all online TV content, on par with the approach taken by national broadcasters.

The latest development finds its roots in a wider campaign by the ACMA to clamp down on gambling advertisements amid rising concerns over problem gambling rates.

Just last week, influencers were threatened by the media regulator with a fine of up to AU$2.5m (£1.2m) if found promoting illegal gambling websites.

The warning was a result of a study by the University of Sydney which revealed that the number of Australian content creators that link to offshore operators is rapidly increasing.

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Tennis needs betting’s help to tackle online hate towards female players

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Growing concern over online abuse directed at tennis players by angry bettors has prompted the sport’s authorities to call for action.

This form of online aggression is mostly being aimed at women, with top female players such as Raducanu, Swiatek, Boulter, Jabeur and Pegula bearing the brunt of it.

A joint report from the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) revealed that a total of 458 female players received abusive messages in the past year.

The study, which used an AI detection system created by Signify Group, also found that frustrated gamblers accounted for 40% of social media abuse. When it came to abuse directed towards the personal accounts of players, this rose to 77%.

As a result of this, the authorities are asking gambling companies to close the accounts of bettors who have been a part of this issue.

In 2024, the pair teamed up with The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) and United States Tennis Association (USTA) and reported a total of 12,000 abusive posts / comments. 15 of these accounts were reported to law enforcement which resulted in over 8,000 players being protected. The problem will likely remain persistent, however, given how central social media is in today’s world.

Speaking on the issue, a spokesperson from the UKGC told SBC News: “Our legislation gives us powers to regulate the actions of gambling operators. Unless there is an offence under the Gambling Act we don’t have the power to take action against individual gamblers.

“We would urge any sportsperson to report messages of abuse to the relevant sports body or, if relevant, to law enforcement.”

FanDuel takes action
According to The Guardian, FanDuel – WTA’s official US gaming partner and the biggest operator in the American betting sector by market share – has been working on its definition of harassment and updated its terms and conditions to allow for the suspension of users who target athletes.

The company warned in a recent email to its customers: “We may, in our sole discretion, suspend or terminate your Account and/or exclude you from our services if we determine that you pose a threat to the safety of participants in a sporting event, or discover that you engaged in the harassment of a sports official, coach or any participant in a sporting event.”

Targeting gender
In 2023, a European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) report revealed that women are the primary targets of online hate.

Meanwhile, last year a study from Cornell University UK survey found that women are significantly more fearful of online harms, and also report more significant psychological impacts.

Women who have a public presence online, whether in social media, sports, or the media, have often become targets of online abuse, especially in male-dominated sports, because their visibility challenges traditional gender roles.

Current British number two, 28-year-old Katie Boulter, recently spoke up about the abuse she has personally received, leading to the above-mentioned statements by the WTA and ITF.

She told the BBC: “It becomes more apparent every single time you go on your phone. I think it increases in number and it also increases in the level of things that people say. I don’t think there’s anything off the cards now.’

A spokesperson for both the WTA and ITF said their latest findings have brought about a “constructive conversation” with the betting industry.

“We will continue to push for the industry to do more as part of a collective effort to rid tennis of betting-related abuse. We hope the gambling industry responds constructively to our call for more action on their part.”

With regards to betting, the issue of athlete abuse has become particularly prevalent in the US, with a lot of focus on online abuse received by college athletes which many believe are related to losing bets.

Speaking on the iGaming Daily podcast, Justin Byers, Senior Journalist at SBC Americas, spoke about how a similar issue of online hate has affected athletes in the US.

He said: “It’s been very interesting to see how gambling companies themselves, regulators and governing bodies of sports are handling the situation.

“Over the past year, we’ve seen the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) take a step and be proactive with their ‘Don’t Be a Loser’ campaign – a video campaign they released through March Madness.

“It’s a campaign that looks at sports fans themselves, making them look inward and to not harass athletes on the field. I think having activations like that help to move forward and have bettors thinking themselves has proven effective.”

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Double Dutch warning for FDJ United’s Unibet

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FDJ United’s Unibet brand has received two warnings from the Dutch gambling regulator for failures linked to advertising and autoplay.

Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), the Dutch gaming authority, issued the warnings to Optdeck, which provides games of chance under the Unibet brand in the Netherlands, for violations related to a cycling team sponsorship and a BonusBuy function in one of their titles.

In response, a Unibet spokesperson told iGaming Expert that the brand took the KSA’s warning “very seriously and took immediate action” to correct the errors, including adjusting branding and compensating affected players.

Sponsorship bus

As part of its sponsorship of the Unibet Tietema Rockets cycling team, the Unibet logo was shown on a coach, which was used to transport the team in the Netherlands and for additional purposes. The Dutch authority has stated that this violates the non-targeted advertising ban.

Speaking with Optdeck, the KSA said that the operator was “not aware that the bus was also used for other transport and that monitoring various sponsorship agreements can be complex”, adding that the team has been asked to stop using the bus immediately and modified stickers will be provided without the Unibet brand logo.

“The KSA has indicated that it is always the provider’s responsibility to guarantee that sponsorship agreements comply with the laws and regulations,” noted the regulator.

“In addition, the coach in this form will no longer be allowed on the road as of 1 July 2025, because that is also when the ban on sports sponsorship comes into effect.”

KSA Chair, Michael Groothuizen, has previously stated that current loopholes in sponsorship must be addressed by the forthcoming overhaul of the Remote Gambling Act undertaken by state secretary Teun Struycken.

A Unibet spokesperson told iGaming Expert: “Unibet takes the signals from the Dutch Gambling Authority very seriously and took immediate action upon notification. The broader use of the touring coach by the sponsored team was halted at our request.

“Ahead of the new regulations per July 1, all team vehicles in the Netherlands will be fitted with adjusted branding without the Unibet logo.”

BonusBuy not allowed

The second warning issued by the Dutch regulator to Unibet was due to a BonusBuy feature that was part of one of their titles. BonusBuy is a form of autoplay, which allows players to automatically continue playing with purchased bonuses without having to start a new game.

The KSA stated that this is prohibited as it encourages players to excessively gamble. In its conversation with Optdeck, the regulator stated that the BonusBuy feature was activated incorrectly by the supplier due to a third-party error.

The function was live for two hours, with players who suffered losses during that period being compensated, while measures have also been taken to make sure the same mistake isn’t repeated in the future.

“The identified autoplay functionality was unintentionally briefly available due to an error by an external supplier following the game’s launch,” noted a Unibet spokesperson to iGaming Expert.

“During our internal checks prior to launch, this functionality was still disabled. Affected players have been compensated, and we have implemented additional measures with the supplier to prevent such errors in the future.”

The Dutch regulator said in its release: “The KSA emphasised in the conversation that the provider itself is responsible for correctly following laws and regulations, even if there is a collaboration with third parties.

“Because both violations were stopped immediately as soon as they were noticed, the KSA will leave it at a warning for now. If Optdeck makes another mistake in the future, the KSA can impose stricter sanctions.”

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