SBC News

Sweden’s gambling authority, Spelinspektionen, has welcomed the government’s proposal for the country’s accession to Europe’s Macolin Convention.

The Macolin Convention was adopted by the Council of Europe back in 2014, with the main goal of protecting the integrity and ethics of sports and combatting the manipulation of results.

Subsequently coming into force in 2019, the Convention currently includes 34 countries as signees, 22 of which are European Member States. Sweden is not a part of it as of yet.

However, the government of Sweden through its Ministry of Social Affairs has assessed that the country meets the requirements to become the latest member of the Convention.

According to the Ministry, Sweden does not need additional constitutional amendments to ratify the international framework, and can move to accession without the approval of Riksdag, which Spelinspektionen wholeheartedly agreed with.

“The Swedish Gaming Authority endorses and welcomes the government’s propos..

Lithuania will proceed to tighten its gambling laws to strengthen problem gambling controls and ‘prevent irresponsible behaviours’.

On Friday, 8 November, the Seimas (parliament) approved ‘new provisions’ to be added to the Gambling Law of the Republic of Lithuania.

Headline measures saw ministers approve of Lithuania enforcing a new ‘consolidated gambling age’ of 21 years, to be effective from 1 July 2025.

The raising of Lithuania’s legal gambling age from 18-to-21 had been sanctioned by the government in January, with the schedule of Gambling Law amendments to be determined by the Seimas. Previously, the government had only enforced the 21+ age restriction on casino venues.

From 1 July 2025, a new gambling age limit of 21 years will be applied as a ‘centralised control’ on all gambling activities (land-based and online) except for the draws of Lithuania’s national lottery.

New ‘centralised controls’ will require Lithuanian gambling venues to employ a qualified and dedicated staf..

GamCare has issued an announcement that its Safer Gambling Standard services will cease by the end of this year.

First launched in 2019, the UKAS-accredited certification has served as an independent quality standard to measure the scale and effectiveness that gambling companies put towards the protection of people from gambling harm.

After an internal review in December 2023, GamCare’s Board took the decision to place the standard’s activities under a new home, external to the charity.

However, it has now been established that no such organisation has been found despite a number of discussions, forcing GamCare to completely suspend the Safer Gambling Standard.

GamCare maintained that it will continue its commitment to its work of reducing gambling harm, with all of its other services remaining unaffected going into the new year, including its 24/7 National Gambling Helpline.

“Our core focus at GamCare will continue to be the provision of high-quality, accessible support to t..

GambleAware’s newly published independent evaluation report has revealed a big improvement in gambling harm awareness within local communities.

Setting out achievements and learning from the first year of its Community Resilience Fund (CRF), the report was produced by Ipsos and New Philanthropy Capital and has been described as a new way of commissioning gambling harms awareness and support services.

It was designed to provide funding to organisations GambleAware had not previously funded, and to support learning about which methods may work for different groups.

Anna Hargrave, GambleAware Chief Commissioning and Strategy Officer, commented: “Gambling harm can affect anyone, but we know certain communities are at higher risk of experiencing harm. These are the people we wanted to reach with our Community Resilience Fund.”

The CRF provided grants to 21 community-based organisations in England, Wales, and Scotland to deliver gambling harm support and raise awareness.

The group det..

Betway has announced a new deal with the Premier Soccer League (PSL) in South Africa that revolves around safer gambling.

Just in time for the country’s National Responsible Gambling Month, Betway – the title sponsor of the Betway Premiership since July – described the news as a great opportunity to double down on its efforts to teach players about responsible gambling.

Through the partnership, the operator and the PSL will increase their responsible gambling messaging throughout November and feature the ‘Bet Responsibly’ message throughout all marketing materials.

Laurence Michel, CEO of Betway, said: “As proud title sponsors of the Betway Premiership, we continue to act on our responsibility as a leading global sports betting brand, to educate our customers and the South African public about responsible gambling.

“Through our partnership with the PSL, Betway remains committed to its objective of encouraging responsible gambling across all its platforms.

“We therefore reiterate..

GamCare is highlighting how banks in the UK can protect their customers from experiencing harm from gambling.

The news follows a recent workshop that the gambling support charity ran with experts from across the financial services sector.

GamCare’s Gambling Related Financial Harm project, created in 2019, has been described as a cross-sector initiative to share knowledge, develop resources, and enable firms to support customers who are affected by gambling harms. 

Raminta Diliso, Financial Harm Manager at GamCare, noted: “Last year, 72% of people who contacted the National Gambling Helpline disclosed financial difficulties. Banks are particularly well placed to detect harmful and unaffordable gambling through bank statements and transactional data, and provide more targeted support to their customers.

“We hope that more financial services firms will take a proactive approach and put the right steps in place to support customers who are experiencing financial difficulties related..

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has published its official statistics for “Young People and Gambling 2024.”

This release marks the fourth dataset providing insights into “young people’s exposure to and involvement in gambling”, as well as the “impact gambling can have on them”. The latest datasets follow statistics for 2023, 2022, and 2020 (2021 was voided due to the COVID-19 pandemic).

For 2024, research was conducted by the “Young People and Gambling Survey,” carried out by Ipsos on behalf of the UKGC.

As cited: “The study collected data from 3,869 pupils aged 11 to 17 years old across curriculum years 7 to 12 (S1 to S6 in Scotland), attending academies, maintained and independent schools in England, Scotland, and Wales using the Ipsos Young People Omnibus. Pupils completed an online self-report survey in class; fieldwork took place between February and June 2024.”

Understanding Definitions

Audiences are made aware of the research definitions, which determine “active involveme..

Speaking to SBC News, Dr Michael Auer, Managing Director of OpenBet’s Neccton, and Sarah Hitchcock, Chief Product Officer and Executive Vice President, Bede Canada at Bede Gaming, discuss the integration of Neccton’s AI-driven responsible gaming and anti-money laundering solutions into the latter’s platform.

They share insights on the value this collaboration brings to operators and how it addresses player protection challenges as the industry continues to evolve.

SBC News: What technologies and services can Neccton provide to operators through the Bede platform?

Dr Michael Auer, Managing Director of OpenBet’s Neccton
Dr Michael Auer: Neccton provides a comprehensive suite of tools that enables operators to adopt a proactive approach to player protection, responsible gambling, and AML efforts.

Our technology is powered by AI, which monitors player behaviour in real-time, identifying patterns that might indicate potential harm. This allows operators to intervene early, offering ..