The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) has joined the campaign against additional ‘temporary’ restrictions during the COVID-19 crisis. 

In a statement, EGBA secretary general Maarten Haijer argued that draconian restrictions like advertising bans and blanket deposit limits will likely do more harm than good, by pushing customers, including vulnerable gamblers, to illegal unlicensed sites. 

Supporting its case, the EGBA pointed to figures from Denmark, where traffic to licensed gambling sites has plummeted 60%, Belgium where it has dropped 38%, and even Sweden, which has seen a 6% fall. 

In a shot across the bow of politicians and regulators, Haijer said:

“We must remember that gambling is human behaviour, consumers will always make their own choices and effective regulation needs to be based on what works well, not what makes good headlines.”

Just yesterday we reported that nine high-profile CEOs had issued a statement, through Swedish iGaming trade body BOS, calling on the Swedish government to drop its plans for more restrictions due to the COVID-19 crisis. 

The signatories, which included Betsson AB CEO Pontus Lindwall, Kindred Group CEO Henrik Tjärnström, and LeoVegas Group CEO Gustaf Hagman, pointed to research suggesting that any further restrictions will make the Swedish market non-viable for all current licensees. 

AYO.NEWS says:

Wherever you stand on the moral rights and wrongs of gambling, the EGBA’s logic seems pretty watertight. In many jurisdictions, especially Sweden and the UK, those operators trying to play by the rules are already being made to jump through hoops and deal with ever-moving goalposts, while on an uneven playing field compared to unlicensed offshore operators.

If regulators and politicians genuinely care about protecting the vulnerable, and encouraging responsible gambling, they absolutely have a moral duty to support licensed operators as they compete against unlicensed ones, not actively conspire to destroy them. 

The truth is that, in many countries, there is a determined, ideologically-driven anti-gambling element that, rather than being honest and arguing their case in the open, is hiding behind the COVID-19 crisis to ram through their agenda. And, does anyone really believe the limits will be ‘temporary?’ 

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