Spain’s gambling regulator hands out $38M in fines to Betfair and 888
Spain’s Directorate General for Gambling Regulation (DGOJ) has released a swathe of new fines for operators, totalling €33,503,000 ($38 million) to 32 well known gambling brands such as 888 and Betfair.
The news comes from the desk of the betting watchdog and takes the grand total of fines given to gambling operators across 2025 to 58 sanctions and a reported €111 million ($128m).
Directorate General for Gambling Regulation stern with operators
The DGOJ is headed by politician and lobbyist Pablo Bustinduy, who also has a role as Minister of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and Agenda 2030.
He has a pedigree in social policy, having led research posts at City College of New York, New York University, and the University of Milan. He has also been a visiting professor at Columbia University and a Research Fellow at the Center for American Political Studies at Harvard University.
La política social debe fundar horizontes de certidumbre para un mundo en crisis. En mi primera intervención como miembro del Gobierno, he querido señalar algunas claves políticas y estratégicas que guiarán la acción del Ministerio. pic.twitter.com/EF4Frwrc1j
— Pablo Bustinduy (@pbustinduy) November 21, 2023
Bustinduy’s office has cracked down on 26 licensed operators for very serious gambling infractions, and 6 operators in breach of gambling regulations and as a result have had their sites blocked.
Of the Spanish gambling operators sanctioned, some well-known names were in the list. According to the press release, 888 Online was fined €250,000 ($290,000) by the overseer for “failing to comply with the technical requirements of the regulations concerning software and communication systems, and for using unapproved or unauthorized technical systems.”
Betfair received a fine of €100,000 ($116,000) for failing to comply with responsible gambling rules as an individual was allowed to bet with a €0 balance. The DGOJ classified it as a serious breach of the gambling brand’s responsibility, and the slap on the wrist was reduced to €60,000 after Betfair’s early admission to the oversight.
Of the 6 other Spanish gambling sites that had the most serious infractions, XYZ Entertainment, Moonrail Limited, EOD Code SRL, Samaki, Lone Rock Holdings, and Novaforge all received a €5 million ($5.7 million) fine.
The DGOJ, closed the statement saying, “So far this year, including this latest round of fines, the Ministry headed by Pablo Bustinduy has imposed 58 serious and very serious sanctions, totaling almost €111 million.”
Featured image: DGOJ Official
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