We know many of you have been waiting for our weekly news recap, so it’s time to check out what’s new in the world of iGaming. As always, Nostrabet.com’s team had to read tons of information before summarizing the most intriguing news. Some of the things you’ll read may surprise you, so let’s dive in.
UNAD Wants Spain to Ban Gambling and Betting Advertising
Spain is in an interesting position when it comes to gambling because it is slowly becoming one of the popular destinations. Stats do not lie – more and more people gamble online. That’s why the country’s union of associations and entities for the care of drug addicts (UNAD) is urging the authorities to eliminate all gambling and betting advertising.
According to them, the ads encourage people to play and develop addictive behaviours. These issues have significant socio-health and economic consequences, particularly among young people. They also stated that gambling (as well as other kinds of addictions) does not leave physical traces. As a result, they are much harder to detect and people usually notice them when it is too late.
It will be intriguing to see if the authorities in Spain follow the recommendations, as this would place the country alongside states like Bulgaria. The latter has not banned gambling ads altogether, but it has much stricter rules in terms of how operators can do it.
An ex-Danish Badminton Coach Received a 4 Year Ban for Courtside Betting
Joachim Persson received a 4-year ban from the Badminton World Federation after it became clear he placed in-play bets during a match. The event took place at the Japan Open last year, and the Danish player was caught in action.
Speaking of the devil, the Badminton star was a silver medalist from the 2008 European Championship. He was also the coach of Andres Antonsen, the world’s number 3. Sadly, people will most likely forget about his achievements after he was spotted placing bets via his mobile phone. He was filmed by another player and was later confronted.
Following the investigation, the authorities discovered that he had placed a total of $810 on one of the matches. The player was not cooperative with the investigation, and once it became clear what was done, he was dismissed by Antonsen. The latter reached the singles quarterfinals at the event in Tokyo and the Paris Olympics.
Estonia Could Reduce its Gambling Tax to 4%
While many countries (including the likes of the UK) are considering raising the gambling tax, Estonia has a different approach. The local government approved interesting changes related to the Gambling Tax Act, whose goal is to reduce the online casino taxes from 6% to 4%.
The reason behind this decision is that the government believes the move would support long-term funding of sports and culture. Although this sounds interesting, not everyone in Estonia is in favor of the changes. Many people believe that the current gambling tax is already low and there is no need to lower it even more. Just for comparison, the UK’s current gambling tax is 21%.
VGC Leeds Lost its Gambling License in the UK
On the topic of the gambling industry in the UK, the local regulator decided to suspend VGC Leeds’ license. The reason behind this decision was the company’s failure to meet the requirements of anti-money laundering.
According to the UKGC, the site lacked adequate decision-making processes and failed to identify all of the AML and counter-terrorist financial risks.
This decision comes a few days after the Gambling Commission took action against Petfre. The latter broke the rules regarding slots and was fined around 240K GPB.
The Authorities in Cambodia Arrested 23 Foreigners Following Cybercrime Links
The police in Cambodia had a major raid in the Svay Rieng province that resulted in the arrest of 23 foreigners. The operation began after the authorities uncovered a tech-based fraud. Sources reported that the casino premises were used for different cybercrime activities.
Aside from arresting all these people, the police also seized cell phones and passports. It seems like these people used coordinated actions to target international victims.
After it became clear what was going on, the country’s gambling commission suspended Silver Star Casino’s license. 20 of the people who were arrested will be deported, whereas the rest will have to go through the criminal procedure in the country.
Betano Launched its TV Campaign with FC Bayern
You may remember that a while ago, FC Bayern and Betano signed a partnership deal. Well, it seems like the iGaming company decided to launch its new major television campaign with the team called “Genaou So” or “Exactly like that” in English. The campaign features Raimond Aumann and Stefan Effenberg and comprises various animations and live-action elements.
It will be interesting to see if Betano will come up with even more marketing videos in the near future. Aside from the deal with the German powerhouse, the company has a partnership deal with Flamengo, Sporting CP and River Plate. All of these teams are among the best in their respective regions, so we would not be surprised if Betano uses them to its advantage.
Isaac Dulgarian is No Longer a Part of the UFC Following Suspicious Betting Activity
The UFC has numerous MMA stars involved in various online betting sponsorships. However, it appears that some of them have been betting without permission. This is the case with Isaac Dulgarian because he was let go by the UFC following suspicious betting on a recent fight.
It appears that the player manipulated some of the prop betting markets and this was immediately noticed by the UFC’s own betting integrity service. After it became clear what was going on, some bookmakers even decided to issue refunds to their clients.
Authorities in Thailand are Investigating Miss Universe for Casino Promotions
There is an interesting investigation going on in Thailand against the Miss Universe Organization. It seems like there are reports that the latter has promoted an illegal online casino product during the 74th competition that will take place in Bangkok.
The Naway Itsaragrisil and another person filed the complaint. Both accused the MUO of these promotional materials, and this resulted in a police investigation. The police decided to question different people after seeing a picture of Miss Philippines holding a pillow that promotes a Philippine-based gambling site.
It seems that the investigation will not disrupt the actual Miss Universe contest, as the event will take place between November 2 and 21.
The President of Slovakia vetoed the New Gambling Bill
Slovakia is not one of the countries that comes to mind when thinking of gambling, but this could change soon. The country had interesting changes to the gambling bill that had to liberalize the online gambling market. However, it seems like the President did not like the changes because he vetoed them.
According to his statement, he is concerned about consumer protection and the potential impact of the law. He also believes that the bill itself lacked safeguards for preventing gambling-related harm.
Ezugi Partnered with Bet365
Bet365 is back again with yet another interesting partnership, this time with the software supplier Ezugi. The two companies partnered in New Jersey, Ontario and the UK, meaning players residing in these locations will access the operator’s games.
Based on the information, the partnership is expected to commence at the end of 2025. This is when we will see the likes of EZ Baccarat, Ultimate Roulette, and loads of other games.
It is worth reminding that Ezugi is a part of Evolution Gaming. The latter is one of the world’s most recognizable names and it acquired Ezugi in 2018.
Stake Partnered with Praxis Tech
It’s been a while since Stake took part an interesting sponsorship deal. The latest one is with Praxis Tech, a company that will help with the payment processing infrastructure.
According to the news, Praxis will help with Stake’s payment operations in many countries. The idea for Stake is to strengthen its payment performance across specific jurisdictions. The deal puts Praxis in a good position because it will facilitate Stake’s ongoing expansion in different markets.
An Authority in Northern Ireland Urged the UK’s Chancellor to Increase the Gambling Taxes
The Northern Ireland Assembly’s All-Party Group related to reducing harm sent a letter to the UK Chancellor. In it, the people argue that standardizing tax rates across different products would contradict the government’s commitment to reducing gambling harm.
Rough estimates suggest that the increase in the gambling tax would generate an additional $2.6 billion in revenue. It should also discourage the most harmful forms of online gambling.
The group’s representatives believe that the remote gambling product can cause a different level of harm. They think that online gaming and slots present much greater risk than traditional betting activities.
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