France could be in the sights of European Commission investigator
Charlie McCreevy this week as a result of its protectionist laws on
gambling, which have excluded online betting companies from other
EU member states from offering their products and services in the
country.
According to several media reports, McCreevy suspects that France's
state gambling monopolies breach EU single market rules.
Attention was focused on France's gambling policies following the
recent arrests of Manfred Bodner and Norbert Teufelberger, the co-chief
executives of online betting company Bwin Interactive Entertainment
AG. Their detention by French authorities in September for allegedly
violating gaming laws received major mainstream media coverage.
In French law, online gaming and advertisements from companies other
than the state-run gaming companies Francaise des Jeux and PMU are
forbidden.
The Bwin bosses had been about to announce the company's sponsorship
deal with the Association Sportive de Monaco football club.
Since then the French Professional Football League has banned its
clubs from accepting online gambling advertising, an unpopular move
which resulted this week in a high profile protest when Toulouse Football
Club, sponsored by 888.com appeared on the field wearing player shirts
emblazoned with "???.com - censored."
According to a team representative, the ban also affected Monaco FC
this weekend when team members were forced to remove advertising boards
for Bwin before the kick-off of their match. A club representative
told reporters that all advertisements had to be removed on a ruling
by the French Professional Football League before the match could
start.
France has justified its gambling monopoly based on the grounds of
maintaining public order. According to the EU, because the state gambling
agencies are widely advertised, the public order concern could be
called into question, and France should either open up access for
all European online gambling agencies, or eliminate all gambling in
the country.