The founder of Betclic, one of the main online sports betting sites, was “favorable” to the authorization of online casinos planned by the Government in the 2025 budget project, considering that this would reduce cybercrime. “This is an important issue of general interest. The current situation is catastrophic,” he declares in an interview with Nicolas Beraud, who is also president of the French Online Games Association. Sunday’s Tribune.
He believes that the legalization of online casinos will make illegal platforms disappear, as happened, he says, “in Portugal, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands…”. The results in Germany are less convincing because “regulations remain too restrictive”, with “long waiting times” and “limited supply”.
“The impact will not be significant” in physical casinos
Asked about the risk of creating addictions to online games, Nicolas Beraud responds that “no one cares about these four million players who frequent illegal online casino sites.” “By returning them to a regulated market, we will protect them by law,” he says. “Additional protective measures may be possible, but we must have a legal framework to be able to act.”
Regarding the fears of “physical” casinos of seeing their customers abandon them in favor of online casinos, the founder of Betclic believes that “the impact will not be significant since the market already exists, illegally.”
The Addiction Federation, which brings together those involved in the prevention and treatment of addictions, harshly criticized this week the modification of the 2025 budget project aimed at legalizing online casinos and called for their withdrawal. He considers it “irresponsible and contrary to public health priorities.” When introducing this amendment on October 19, the government said it wanted to “limit the public health impact of online gaming consumers” and “control this ever-growing supply of games.”
Source: BFM TV
