Belgian Gaming Commission releases advertising guidelines.The Belgian Gaming Commission has established a series of responsible advertisement guidelines with the Jupiler Pro League, the country’s largest football league.
The new initiatives include a ban on collborations between league clubs and gambling operators who are not authorised by the Commission to operate in Belgium.
All gambling sponsorship arrangements must be disclosed to the Commission. In the meantime the Commission shall notify the Pro League if an operator has committed a violation or if the operator loses its licence so that the league and the club concerned can take action. The guidelines also note that gambling ads must not provide an invitation to gamble.
The commission said that it will also prohibit betting “on certain stages of a match” but has not yet clarified what stage the rule refers to. It will also create an independent integrity committee comprising academic and sporting representatives to monitor club policies and propose integrity recommendations.
The two bodies said in a joint statement “The absolute starting point of communication and marketing around games of chance and betting is the protection of consumers.It is essential that excessive gambling should be prevented as much as possible. That is why the Gaming Commission and the Pro League want to go further than what is legally imposed today.”
