ANJ refreshes board make-up ahead of advertising review  

l’Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ), France’s national gambling regulator, has announced changes to its governance overseeing the redevelopment of France’s unified gambling laws. 

The decision has been approved by Bruno Le Maire, the French government’s  Minister of Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereign.

The ANJ will maintain its current board make-up of nine members, including President Isabelle Falque Pierrotin.

Board members are appointed to serve a six-year tenure, in which their duties must be renewed every two-year as ‘functions for members of the ANJ college are not exercised on a full-time basis’.

A decree filed by the ANJ disclosed that board members Éliane Houlette, Mario Blaise and Wilfried Sand-Zantman had chosen not to end their duties in June 2022.

The departed members have been replaced by Thomas de Ricolfis, Jean-Pierre Couteron and Isabelle Bordry.

Thomas de Ricolfis is a deputy director of DCPJ, a subsidiary department of France’s National Police investigating financial crimes.

An expert in addiction treatment and patient welfare, Jean-Pierre Couteron is the current administrator of France’s Fédération addiction.

A data science figurehead Isabelle Bordry, Co-Founder of Retency, a company specializing in data anonymization and online protection.

The appointment sees ANJ maintain its pledge of equal parity within its board that reflects a 50/50 make-up.

The close of 2022 will see ANJ publish its review of French gambling advertising standards across all media, digital and sponsorship verticals.

ANJ’s advertising review is supported by the French media agencies of ARPP – France’s Professional Advertising Regulatory Authority, and ARCOM – the Audiovisual Communication Regulator.  

During H1, all licensed sportsbook operators were required to submit action plans detailing their advertising spend for the remainder of the year.  

President Falque Pierrotin warned incumbents that ANJ expected a “vast improvement on advertising activities during World Cup 2022” – following public complaints that betting operators had dominated the coverage of last year’s UEFA Euro 2020 Championship.