Malta MGA terminates The Daily Fantasy Football Company licence

The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) has announced that incumbent The Daily Fantasy Football Company LTD has lost its capacity to operate wagering services within its jurisdiction, terminating its licence. 

As of last week, the company could no longer carry out operations, register new players or accept new customer deposits. Nevertheless, the firm is required to provide all registered players with access to their accounts along with refunding all current standing payments in line with the applicable law.

According to the statement, MGA has found the company guilty of breaching regulation 9 of the Gaming Compliance and Enforcement Regulations:

1) Failure to meet commitments to players in a timely manner, or the Authority has reason to believe that such failure is imminent following the €3,483.89 liabilities incurred by The Daily Fantasy Football Company towards player funds 

2) Failure to pay in a timely manner all amounts due to the Authority, specifically The Daily Fantasy Football Company failed to pay the relevant tax, compliance and true-up alignment contributions.

The Daily Fantasy Football Company hosts two websites, Playthesix.com and Thefantasyfootball.com, however, due to the recent news, both will cease operations in Malta as soon as all guidelines have adhered to. 

The fantasy firm, who was first given Maltese gambling authentication in 2017, has the option to appeal against the MGA’s decision.

On both sites, the company stated: “We are closing down daily fantasy sports operations at websites playthesix.com and thefantasyfootball.com. Thanks for your support and thank you for playing with us throughout the years! We wish you all the best.”

The news follows the authorities recent crackdown on gambling sites as of late. Last month MGA suspended Zero Seven Gaming Limited’s gaming services licence after failing to report player funds and licence fees. 

Blackrock Media also paid a €2.3m penalty to MGA as the firm had been operating a gaming service without the necessary authorisation.