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Spanish gambling regulator Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ) has introduced new measures which will ban betting operators from offering betting markets on youth sporting events. The ruling applies to contests in which all of the participants, or most of those competing, are under the age of 18.
The DGOJ said the move will help fight against fraud, prevent addictive behaviour, protect minors and also safeguard the rights of participants in sports events. The new regulations will come into effect as soon as they are published in the Boletín Oficial del Estado, the country’s official state gazette, which is expected to happen in next 24-48 hours.
“There are several reasons why the DGOJ believes that it is not beneficial for minors to be involved in betting events, whether of a sporting nature or not. The reasons and decisions made are constitutionally recognised and are directly connected to the betting regulators’ objective of having the sole interest of the minors at heart,” announced Spanish Ministry of Finance in a statement.
The move comes after a study by the DGOJ found that of all the sporting events consumers were able to bet on in 2018, 5.45 per cent were on competitions where the majority of players were minors. Football was the leading sport with a total of 874 matches available for betting in 2018, followed by volleyball on 638 games and basketball with 474 matches.
Last week the Spanish government also announced the formation of a national commission to combat match-fixing and betting-related fraud. The unit is formed from four national bodies including the DGOJ, the Guardia Civil, the federal police force and Spain’s Higher Sports Council.
