FRENCH CAUTION
14 August 2009
Liberalisation may be just around the
corner....but it's not here yet!
Online gambling operators who make the mistake of
initiating promotional and advertising moves before the
French government is ready for them are in for a rude
awakening, it appears from a report on Goal.com which
surfaced this week.
The Ligue de Football
Professionel was backed by the French national budget
minister in its ultimatum to the Olympique Lyonnais
football club to remove sponsorship branding and even
the logo colours from its strip or stop playing. The
club had earlier accepted a sponsorship agreement with
an unnamed French online casino company.
The
order had teeth, as the referee for the game had the
league's authority to cancel the contest if the club did
not comply, leaving the club with an appeal process that
was unlikely to be immediately effective.
The
ultimatum is the latest manifestation of repeated
warnings by the French government that it will not allow
to go unchallenged any attempts to break current laws
and policies in anticipation of its liberalisation of
gambling, currently planned for January next (2010)
year.
Budget Minister Eric Woerth, who has in the
past repeatedly stressed that the new gambling policies
should not be anticipated before the implementation
date, backed the league's approach when quoted by the
French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche.
"The
opening of the market for online gambling will take
place during 2010," the minister said. "Until then, both
sides must respect French law. In a democracy, laws are
not negotiable. Being a sports leader and an outlaw is
incompatible. I therefore call on Jean-Michel Aulas,
Lyon president and the company in question to keep their
nerve."
Woerth went on to raise the possibility
that the issue was being used to generate publicity by
the unnamed online gambling company, commenting: "They
carry out an operation for publicity, but it’s bad news
for sport. Many other operators are behaving quite
correctly."
He also issued a veiled threat,
saying: "Obviously, the State, as the regulatory
authority for online games, will take into account what
is happening at the time of issuing the licenses.
Wearing an advertisement for an illegal transaction is
strictly prohibited. I will not let it happen."
Online Casino News Courtesy of
Infopowa
More news here.
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