The Netherlands Gambling Authority, Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), has imposed a penalty on Optdeck, the local operator behind the Unibet brand.

Unibet’s Dutch domain has been penalised for offering bets on prohibited markets. The bets included ones on corner kicks, yellow cards and matches involving players under the age of 21. 

The violations occurred multiple times between October 2022 and May 2025, with the KSA imposing a weekly fine of €75,000, capped at €450,000.

The KSA had previously addressed Unibet regarding these offerings but found the company’s actions insufficient to prevent recurrence.

The authority explained on its website: “Under Dutch gambling law, betting on certain matches and event components is prohibited. This is to protect the integrity of the sport and prevent manipulation of these bets.”

The ruling aims to underline the regulator’s focus on protecting the integrity of sporting events and ensuring operators comply with Dutch law. Operators offering bets on specific match events or youth competitions face strict oversight, with penalties applied when violations occur.

More power pending

As the Netherlands moves towards its October general election, gambling is starting to take a key place in the political debate.

The centre-right People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), led by Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius, has set out its stance in a newly published manifesto. Among the proposals is a plan to hand the KSA broader powers.

The VVD believes a stronger regulator would be able to oversee the online market more effectively, limit gambling-related harm and deal more decisively with illegal activity.

By including gambling policy in its election programme, the party has opened the door for the sector to become a bigger talking point during campaigning, alongside other consumer protection issues.

The topic had already been on the government agenda for some time, but a package of reforms was shelved when the government collapsed in June. Although it remains firmly on the general political agenda, as seen by the VVD’s policies, the Minister responsible for tabling the reforms has now vacated his position for unrelated reasons.

Not Unibet’s first regulatory rodeo this year

Meanwhile, this is not the first penalty this year for the Unibet brand. Over in Australia, the company was fined AU$1m (£480,700/€560,100) a few months back for failing to shut down hundreds of customer accounts linked to Australia’s national self-exclusion system.

The country’s Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) said its investigation found that the FDJ United-owned company had breached the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 more than 100,000 times.

At the centre of the case were 954 accounts that were not closed after players registered with BetStop, the country’s National Self-Exclusion Register (NESR). The ACMA highlighted that 45 of these accounts remained active for more than 190 days after exclusion.

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