The UK government is looking for more ways to exert pressure on what it sees as illegal gambling operators, and the latest such move is directed at operators that are not licensed in the country but still have partnerships running with sports clubs locally.
The news was reported by The Guardian, with ministers now poised to take on these websites amid a flurry of criticism that the issue has gone unaddressed and that lawmakers have been wilfully turning a blind eye.
A new consultation is now on its way, sources familiar with the matter have told the publication, and comes on the tail of mounting criticism from industry types, who have lambasted the government’s perceived inaction towards the issue while heaping new regulations and obligations on the regulated sector.
Ladbrokes CEO, Stella David, has vituperated against the government over its failure to regulate partnerships where a sponsor was a gambling firm that was clearly not regulated under the Gambling Commission mandate.
“Burnham became stridently anti-gambling when he became mayor of Manchester, but his own football club is taking money from an unregulated gambling company,” a source told The Guardian, referring to a recent deal signed by Everton FC.
However, unlicensed casinos and operators may still sign deals as there is no specific law that prohibits soccer clubs from doing so. According to David, the lack of specificity on the matter is wrongly misinterpreted by clubs as a “green light” to sign such sponsorships in the first place.
Such operators may end up depriving the treasury of taxable income, David explained, urging action sooner rather than later. The regulator has also undertaken steps to ease the burden on the regulated sector in a bid to stregnthen it.
This debate comes in the broader context of the country’s gambling regulator, the Gambling Commission, forging ahead with Financial Risk Assessment guidelines which will be rolled out as a three-stage process.