Netherlands Announces Crackdown On Online World Cup Bets

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[h=1]Netherlands announces crackdown on online World Cup bets[/h]
Luke Haward, CDC Gaming Reports · June 16, 2018

The Dutch didn’t qualify for the World Cup this time around, but it would be churlish to suggest that this has anything to do with the recently announced crackdown on online betting they’re launching in the run up to the tournament. This is clearly something which has the best interests of the nation at heart; it is widely expected that across the world there will be an increase in illegal betting activity as the busiest sports event this year for the gambling industry kicks off this week.

The catchily-titled Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), the Dutch gambling authority, has stated that its principle areas of focus for the crackdown will be underage gambling and unauthorised betting being offered to Dutch residents. There is only one licensed online sportsbook operator in the country, Toto, which is part of the Dutch national lottery.

Any other operators are mandated against taking sports bets from Dutch residents, but there are plenty of smaller operators, especially those based overseas, who are flouting these regulations. The Netherlands have particular problems with some gambling companies based out of Curaçao who have persistently ignored these rules, despite repeated (and often unpaid) fines being issued by the KSA.

Curaçao is a Caribbean island which is still technically a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, although it has its own government and full autonomy on most matters. Operators in Curaçao have been fined over €2 million by the KSA in recent years, with no more than a quarter of those payments showing any sign of being made, and violations seem to be continuing. In the end, there is only so much a national authority can do to block and penalise overseas operators, the very issue which the KSA has been grappling with for some time now.

The KSA is providing a special notification form on its web page for people to use in reporting suspected underage betting as part of this effort. It has stated that it expects an overall rise in betting during the World Cup, despite their national team failing to qualify.

Furthermore, the KSA has issued a statement to the public about its new campaign, stating that “the gaming authority acts against illegal gambling providers because there is no control (over) the fairness of the game, the detection of gambling addiction, and the participation of vulnerable groups such as minors… young people form a vulnerable group, and gambling providers must make every effort to prevent minors from participating.”
 
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