Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), the Dutch gambling authority, has reminded gambling operators of their advertising duties ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup this month.
Qatar will host football’s showpiece tournament in November and December, and with kick-off just weeks away, the KSA has sent a letter to licence holders in the Netherlands, reminding them of the appeals made by Minister of Gambling Policy Franc Weerwind during debates in the House of Representatives last month.
Weerwind called for games of chance providers to moderate their advertising around the World Cup, and also pushed for a total ban on untargeted advertising for high-risk games of chance.
Weerwind is the most prominent political proponent of an upcoming clampdown on betting and gaming advertising, particularly relating to sports. The legislation will ban ‘untargeted advertising’ of ‘games of chance’ by January 1, 2023 and prohibit sports sponsorships by 2025.
In its letter to licence holders, the KSA also emphasised recent changes made to the use of ‘celebrities’ in gambling advertisements.
Gambling companies are now prohibited from featuring well-known Dutch people (role models, influencers, professional athletes) in advertisements if they could influence young people.
This was brought into focus earlier this week when the KSA reprimanded the Dutch National Postcode Lottery for breaching rules related to this in TV and online advertisements for its ‘Deal or No Deal’ lottery game.