Europe

Jeevan Jeyaratnam, COO of Abelson Odds, offers up a fascinating thought-leadership viewpoint on the impending arrival of the blue card to the beautiful game. Operators and suppliers, he says, will have to carefully consider how they intend to handle its implications.  Feeling Blue The controversial decision on the use of blue cards has been delayed until March 2 after, most …

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has congratulated four countries for meeting international AML standards and getting off the grey list.  Uganda, the UAE, Barbados and Gibraltar have all been excluded from the list of redtaped countries after the latest FATF preliminary meeting concluded that they have fixed all AML deficiencies within the agreed timeframes.  The Action Plan that the …

Glücksspielbehörde (GGL), the Federal Gambling Authority of Germany, has detailed its concerns regarding impending changes to the Strafgesetzbuch (StGB), the Criminal Code of Germany. Speaking at the Lotto Talk event in Berlin, GGL Co-President Ronald Benter disclosed that the authority had issued an appeal to the Federal Ministry of Justice to ‘reconsider amendments to the Criminal Code’. The Ministry of …

The Swedish Trade Association for Online Gambling (BOS) has taken a stance against the Ministry of Finance mandate for a comprehensive ban on gambling with credit.  According to the proposal memorandum, the ban will boost Sweden’s efforts to prevent cases of indebtedness caused by credit gambling.  By law, licensed gambling operators carry a “duty of care” which mandates that they …

BoyleSports has become the official stable partner of Irish racehorse trainer John ‘Shark’ Hanlon. The multi-year collaboration sees the bookmaker gain exclusive access to follow the horse racing hero on his journey to the Cheltenham Gold Cup, as well as several other feature races throughout the 2024/2025 calendar. Sharon McHugh, Head of Communications & Sponsorship, BoyleSports, commented: “In Shark Hanlon …

The UK government decision to implement of new £2 and £5 stake limits for online slots, set to take effect later this year, is anticipated to impact the annual gross gambling yield by £166.2 million. As announced on Friday by the Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS)  from September  a maximum stake limit of £2 on UK online slots …

Flutter UKI has announced the winning bids of its ‘Cash4Clubs’ grassroots sports programme, distributing a total of £400,000 to struggling community clubs across the UK and Ireland.  The grants will be handed out as one off £2,000 payments, spread across 200 sports clubs “involved in everything from badminton and skateboarding to American Football, wheelchair rugby and surfing”.  Flutter UKI CEO …

Sportradar has extended its partnership with the German Bundesliga, a DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga subsidiary, for six more years.  With the previous agreement scheduled to conclude at the end of the 2025-2026 season, the new deal which will now come to an end in the 2031-2032 season will allow both entities to expand on push of enhanced data and audiovisual …

The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) has welcomed the European Council’s decision to make Frankfurt the base of operations for the upcoming European Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA).  AMLA is expected to open doors for the first time in mid-2025, with around 400 staff members contributing to its day-to-day operations, which will include direct and indirect supervision of regulated EU …

Swedish game developer Gaming Corps has added WKND to its portfolio of partner operators. The new partnership will see Gaming Corps’ full games suite, including the Piggy Smash, Raging Zeus Mines, Mighty Mammoth, Lobster Hotpot, Jet Lucky and Coin Mine titles, distributed onto WKND’s CasinoFriday brand across Finland and Norway.  Danielle Calafato, Chief Commercial Officer from Gaming Corps, said: “WKND …