World Cup player Elye Wahi arrested for alleged fixing offences on eve of tournament

Elye Wahi, the Ivory Coast footballer who is playing at the 2026 World Cup, was arrested on suspicion of fixing offences less than two weeks before the tournament.

Sources with knowledge of events, who like others spoke anonymously as they were not authorised to do so publicly, confirmed the 23-year-old is the subject of an active investigation, which is seeking to establish whether Wahi, while playing for his club side Nice, deliberately earned a yellow card against Metz on May 17.

Wahi was subsequently arrested by French police on May 29, immediately after starring with two goals in a win over Saint-Etienne that kept Nice in Ligue 1, France’s top division.

He has subsequently travelled to the United States for the World Cup and started in Ivory Coast’s 1-0 over Ecuador on Sunday in Philadelphia, hitting the bar in the second half. Ivory Coast’s next game is against Germany in Toronto on Saturday.

A spokesperson for the Marseille public prosecutor’s office said on Tuesday: “We can confirm that a 23-year-old football player, competing in France’s Ligue 1, was arrested on May 29 as part of an investigation opened by the Marseille public prosecutor’s office into allegations of organized fraud, organized sports corruption, handling of proceeds of crime and money laundering.

“He was released after he was interviewed in police custody. The investigations remain ongoing. The football player is not a member of the French selection taking part in the World Cup.”

According to multiple sources with knowledge of the case, who spoke anonymously so that they could discuss the allegations candidly, the probe began after the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP), the governing body that runs the domestic game in France, received several notifications of suspicious betting patterns in Nice’s Ligue 1 fixture against Metz, involving wagers on Wahi to receive a yellow card.

The practice of manipulating events within a game is known as spot-fixing.

The LFP confirmed they had been alerted to “an unusual volume of bets relating to a booking involving the player Elye Wahi.”

A statement on Wednesday read: “At this stage, and in view of the ongoing proceedings and the associated confidentiality requirements imposed on it by the police authorities, the LFP will not make any further comment and has not initiated any disciplinary proceedings. It reserves the right, however, to do so depending on how the investigations progress.

“The LFP reiterates that it remains fully committed to safeguarding the integrity of its competitions and that it will take the strongest possible action against any behaviour likely to compromise it.”

Wahi was included in Ivory Coast’s World Cup squad on May 15, four days before the Metz fixture.

In that match, Wahi received a yellow card in the 35th minute after a late tackle on Metz defender Sadibou Sane. He had previously committed a foul two minutes earlier, when sliding in on full-back Bouna Sarr, though that challenge did not result in a caution.

Following that booking, Wahi was suspended for the first leg of Nice’s relegation play-off against Saint-Etienne on May 26, having picked up five yellow cards over the course of the Ligue 1 season. With Wahi watching on from the stands, Nice drew 0-0 away from home.

Wahi returned to the starting line-up in the second leg three days later — starring in a 4-1 home victory in which he scored two goals and was named man of the match.

He was subsequently arrested by anti-corruption specialists in the French police.

Wahi has not been charged with any crime as the investigation continues and subsequently travelled to North America for the World Cup.

The striker previously represented France at youth level before switching allegiance to the Ivory Coast in March this year.

Wahi played 55 minutes at striker against Ecuador, linking up well with man of the match Yan Diomande before hitting the bar two minutes before his substitution. He was replaced by Inter Milan forward Ange Yoan-Bonny, with Manchester United’s Amad Diallo scoring a 90th-minute winner.

FIFA did not respond when asked if it was aware of Wahi’s arrest prior to the striker playing on Sunday or whether the arrest would affect Wahi’s eligibility to play or to travel.

Wahi is due to travel to Canada for the Ivory Coast’s match in Toronto on Saturday against Group E leaders Germany. Canada this week denied entry to Ghana’s Thomas Partey for reasons related to rape charges against him in the UK, which he strongly denies.

Born on the outskirts of Paris in 2003, Wahi originally spent time at the Caen academy before breaking into Ligue 1 with Montpellier in the 2020-21 season. He subsequently played for fellow French sides Lens and Marseille before joining Bundesliga team Eintracht Frankfurt at the start of last season.

After a goalless first half of the season in Germany, he joined Nice on loan in January, helping keep the club in Ligue 1 with five goals in 14 league appearances.

France’s Gambling Revenue Grows by 3.5%

Gambling in France has shown a promising upward trend, with gross gaming revenue (GGR) rising by 3.5% year-on-year in the first half of 2025. The increase, amounting to €5.7 billion (approximately $6.7 billion), has been significantly influenced by the robust performance of the online sports betting sector. The national regulatory body, l’Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ), reported that this figure surpassed the €5.5 billion recorded during the same period last year, excluding revenues from land-based casinos and gaming clubs, which were reported separately.

The online gambling sector has been a key driver of this growth, particularly in sports betting, which saw a remarkable 10% increase in revenue, reaching €961 million. This surge was supported by a 15% rise in stakes, totalling €6 billion. Notably, the number of unique player accounts also rose by 10% during this period.

Interestingly, this growth occurred despite the absence of major global sporting events in the first half of the year. In contrast, the same period in 2024 featured the early stages of the Euro 2024 football tournament, which likely contributed to higher betting volumes. Football continues to dominate the betting landscape in France, accounting for 52% of all online wagers, followed by tennis at 26%, basketball at 9%, and rugby at 2%. The remaining 11% of bets were placed on various other sports.

While online sports betting did very well, other segments of the online gambling market did not fare as well. Internet poker revenue experienced a decline of 4%, totalling €246 million. Cash game poker revenue was particularly hard hit, dropping by 15% to €47 million, although other formats remained stable. This overall decline in poker revenue occurred despite a 10% increase in unique players, which the ANJ attributed to effective cross-selling strategies.

In the realm of online horse racing, revenue remained flat at €174 million, with stakes increasing by a modest 1% to €795 million. However, the growth rate was slower compared to the previous two years, and the number of unique online horse racing players fell by 3% year-on-year.

The ANJ also released separate figures for La Française des Jeux (FDJ), which completed its acquisition of Kindred Group in October 2024. This acquisition significantly boosted FDJ’s revenue, which rose by 19% in the first half of 2025, reaching €4.4 billion. Sports betting remained the primary revenue source for FDJ, generating €3.5 billion, a 4% increase from the previous year.

The impact of the Kindred acquisition was particularly pronounced in the online betting and gaming segment, which skyrocketed by 458% to €703 million. However, international lottery revenue for FDJ saw a decline of 9%, amounting to €168 million during the same period.

The ANJ also provided insights into the performance of Pari Mutuel Urbain (PMU), which reported revenue of over €830 million in the first half of 2025. This figure represented a 2.6% decrease compared to the same period in 2024. PMU faced challenges in the first quarter, with revenue dropping by 4% and stakes declining by 5.5%. Although there was a slight recovery in the second quarter, revenue remained down by 1.3%, and wagers decreased by 3%.

Growing match-fixing probe in tennis snares more players

French police have questioned another batch of tennis players in a growing investigation into a match-fixing syndicate suspected of paying out hundreds of thousands of dollars to fix low-level matches, judicial officials said Thursday.

Seven French players were taken into custody this week and later released, taking the total number questioned in France so far to 17, the officials said. An initial batch of four players was first questioned in January . The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they aren't authorized to publicly discuss the investigation.

The probe is being led by authorities in Belgium, where the syndicate's suspected ringleader, an Armenian, is based. Belgian authorities say Grigor Sargsyan remains in custody in his home, monitored with an electronic bracelet.

Investigators say corrupted players bought off by the fixers knew Sargsyan as "Maestro". The massive scheme, organized via encrypted messaging and involving dozens of low-ranked players in small tournaments with little prize money, is believed to have spread tentacles to more than a half-dozen countries, including the United States. Belgian authorities say they've requested assistance from the FBI, as well as counterparts in Egypt, Slovakia, Bulgaria, the Netherlands and Germany.

This week's additional detentions were first reported Thursday by French sports daily L'Equipe. Officials didn't identify the players.

A Belgian investigator said five of the French players questioned so far have admitted to taking money from the syndicate to fix matches, and that one player believed to have fixed about two dozen matches confessed to police that he pocketed 30,000 euros ($ 34,000).

The probe has grown far bigger than Belgian authorities initially expected when they first swept up Sargsyan and others in a wave of arrests in June. He faces organized crime, match-fixing, money laundering and forgery charges.

The number of players suspected of involvement continues to grow. Belgian investigators, who have been pouring through phone records and other evidence, believe they have now identified 137 players suspected of fixing or attempted fixing. The syndicate allegedly paid 500 to 3,000 euros ($570 to $3,400) for fixed matches, sets or games. Police say the syndicate employed mules, people hired for a few dollars to place bets on fixed matches that were small enough to slip under the radar of gambling watchdogs.

The Belgian investigator said evidence collected so far suggests the syndicate knew other match-fixers in Spain but they weren't working together. Another investigator said several players who took money from the syndicate told the French police during questioning that they did so because prize monies at low-level tournaments are too small to pay their expenses.

Players told the police that they often saw the so-called Maestro at such tournaments, working to recruit other accomplices, and they described him as friendly and non-threatening, the investigator said.

So far, France has the biggest number of players questioned in the probe. The first four were named by investigators as Jules Okala, 21; Mick Lescure, 25; Yannick Thivant, 32; and Jerome Inzerillo, 29. None operated in the highest spheres of tennis. The career-best singles ranking of any of them was 354, reached by Inzerillo in 2012.

L'Equipe said it interviewed Inzerillo, accompanied by his lawyer, this week and that he told the newspaper that he had never been approached to fix a match.

Everest Poker to close in France

Online gaming firm Betclic Everest Group is to close one of its French poker sites Everest Poker by the end of May this year.

The French based operator has struggled to increase Everest Poker share of the market ever since Betclic bought the site for $100 million from Giga Media back in 2009. Although well known internationally Everest Poker has not found the success it had hoped for in the ever contracting French online market place.

Although Everest Poker will remain operational to players outside France all French players on the site will be able to withdraw their funds or transfer over to Betclic Everest Group’s other poker site in France BetClic Poker.

French online betting grows but profits remain elusive

France’s online betting volumes continued to grow impressively in 2015 but the country’s igaming market is still precarious, year-end figures from the country’s regulator ARJEL reveal.

The figures show that online betting revenues from regulated operators did not slow down in 2015, despite no major football tournament such as the 2014 World Cup taking place.

Betting stakes rose 30% during 2015, reaching €1.44bn, while stakes placed in the fourth quarter of the year beat all previous records and reached €452m, the highest volume since the market regulated in 2010.

The rise in betting volumes is a result of an 8% rise in the number of weekly active punters to 200,000 and an increase of 1.8 points in the pay out ratio to 81.3%, which led to French punters betting more.

Gross profits were up 19% for betting operators to €270m on 2014’s figure of €227m. However, with operators’ taxes based on stakes the level of taxation works out at 46% of gross profits and net profits for online betting, the actual amount operators are left with and from which they pay their running costs, rose just 6% in 2015.

French-licensed betting operators recorded losses of €11m in 2014 and it is highly likely that they will continue to be loss-making in 2015.

In terms of market share, new entrant Winamax, which diversified by launching a betting site in May 2014 and Unibet have been highly aggressive in going after French players.

Stakes for horse racing pari mutuel were down 2% to €1bn, their lowest level since 2010, while online poker cash game stakes saw a further drop of 14% to €3.7bn although entry fees for tournaments rose 14% to €1.7bn.

French football rocked by match fixing scandal

olice carried out raids on numerous homes on Tuesday and arrested the presidents of two clubs, who are suspected of fixing or attempting to fix football matches in France’s second division.

Among those arrested according to Le Parisien newspaper was the president of Caen, Jean-François Fortin and the president of Nîmes Olympique, Jean-Marc Conrad.

In all there were around ten arrests made, all related to the suspected fixing of matches in the 2013-2014 season.

The two men arrested are suspected of rigging a match between their two clubs in May 2013, so that it ended in a draw.

That result ensured that Caen would be promoted to France’s top division and Nîmes Olympique would avoid relegation to the third tier.

According to Le Parisien, French police are looking at several games played by Nîmes last year, suspecting that they too may also have been rigged.

Police suspicions were first raised when they were investigating a separate case against former Nîmes shareholder Serge Kasparian and his casino empire Cercle Cadet.

In a separate case, three of the directors of the club Olympique Marseille have also been arrested on Tuesday, accused of misuse of company funds in relation to the transfer of striker Andre-Pierre Gignac from Toulouse to Marseille in 2010 for €18 million.

Current club president Vincent Labrune; Jean-Claude Dassier, who held the post from 2009 to 2011 and current CEO Philip Perez are under police investigation, suspected of paying kickbacks to middlemen.

French Internet Poker Market Falls To €57m In Q3 2014

French online gambling regulator Autorité de Régulation des Jeux En Ligne (ARJEL), has released its third quarter results for the country’s gambling industry and while sports betting gross gaming revenues were up by a massive 94% to €60 million, online poker continued its dramatic decline with revenues shrinking by 2% to just €57 million.

Poker Declines For Third Consecutive Quarter

In the third quarter, ARJEL reported a 2% fall in the country’s online poker market to €57 million, and while cash games noted a turnover drop of €59 million to €1.040 billion, tournament entries actually improved slightly by €2 million to €354 million.

Earlier this year, ARJEL President Charles Coppolani declared that poker was a losing proposition, and issued a public statement saying; “The fad is over. Basically, the online poker market may be mature.” Unfortunately, France’s quarterly results seem to be leaning in that direction, and the country has now experienced three quarters of declining revenues.

Nevertheless, while Coppolani has dismissed poker as a “fad” and “too complicated for a young audience”, the ARJEL President seems to be overlooking what is likely to be the real root cause of the problem, namely a ring-fenced market with a lack of liquidity, and a French government which has placed too high a tax burden on online poker operators.

Unappealing French iPoker Market

French online poker operators are currently subjected to an extortionate 37% tax rate, and also find themselves further disadvantaged by an estimated 45% of French players preferring to play on unlicensed sites, representing a considerable drain on France’s online poker industry. While ARJEL’s current President Coppolani seems to have overlooked just how significantly these factors have affected online poker in France, ARJEL former President Jean-François Vilotte,at least seemed to have had a better grasp on the situation and previously warned:

“Poker is going through a difficult time, but this is not something that is happening only in France, as Spain and Italy are experiencing a similar trend as well. Seen from a broader perspective, this is a problem of legalized markets competing against non-legalized ones. If legalized markets won’t learn how to become more flexible and adjust themselves quicker to what people want, they will keep doing the work for illegal websites and help them to win against their legal competitors.”

In addition, this uncompetitive situation has recently affected the country’s players and on September 26th, Europoker.fr officially shut its doors leaving between €300,000 and €500,000 of customers’ bankrolls and bonuses stuck in their online accounts.

Signs That ARJEL May Finally Be Addressing Shortcomings

However, there are at last signs that France’s regulator is beginning to see the need to improve the condition of its online poker market, and Coppolani recently met with a select group of French players and journalists in an effort to improve communication between ARJEL and the players in the future. Amongst a number of issues he has promised to consider is the need to introduce more poker games to the French online poker community, to reduce tax for online poker operators, and to share liquidity with other European countries, such as the UK, Spain and Italy.

Sports Betting The Outstanding Performer

While online poker continues to struggle from a number of factors, France’s gambling regulator ARJEL had nothing but praise for the country’s sports betting industry, which reported gross gaming revenue (GGR) of €60 million, up by 94% compared to the €31 million generated in Q3 last year.

Helping France’s sports betting balance sheet was the country’s promising performance at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, which saw the national team reach the Quarter-finals before losing 1-0 to eventual winners Germany. While French bookies took €47 million from punters during the World Cup, French sports betting in general was up by 34% to €245 million in Q3, with football betting the most popular attraction with 63% of the action. Tennis proved the next most popular sport with 24% of total sports wagering, while horse racing continued to wane, falling by 7% in GGR to €238 million.

Playtech has record Q3

Online gambling technology provider Playtech says its third quarter was a record breaker, putting the company on track to exceed current market expectations for full-year results. The company issued a Q3 trading update on Wednesday, showing a 28.6% year-on-year rise in revenue to €116.5m. The good times have continued into the first three weeks of Q4, with average daily revenue up 22% over the same period last year and up 2% sequentially.

Playtech’s mainstay casino vertical continued to earn the lion’s share of company revenue, rising 33% to €62.4m, while services revenue rose 19.3% to €34m. In fact, every vertical besides ‘other’ was in positive territory, but ‘other’ at least had the decency to remain flat at €1.6m. Sports betting posted the most dramatic gain, rising nearly 109% to €7.1m, thanks in part to the launch of an online sportbook for Italian media outlet Gazzetta dello Sport. Bingo rose 9.5% to €4.6m, land-based gambling rose 20.7% to €3.5m and even poker managed to improve 3.1% to €3.3m (although this was down 8.3% sequentially).

Playtech’s eastward shift continued in Q3, with Asia’s share of company revenue rising two points to 36% from Q2, while Europe and the rest of the world shed a point apiece to 56% and 8% respectively.

Playtech CEO Mor Weizer touted the number of deals the company inked in the quarter as evidence that the party is only getting started. Weizer noted that three licensees had shifted their UK-facing business to Playtech’s white label structure, “demonstrating the financial and operational benefits that can be achieved by using our turnkey offering.”

Weizer said Playtech would have big news sometime in H1 2015 regarding a major acquisition that would take the company “to the next level”. Weizer suggested the financial pressures about to be brought on UK-facing operators by regulatory changes would “put them in the right position to do a deal.” Playtech has been sitting on a massive cash pile for over a year after its former William Hill Online joint venture partner cut a check to acquire Playtech’s stake.

In even more good news, Playtech has triumphed in a French court case in which it had been accused of thieving the intellectual property of French online poker market leader Winamax. In August, Winamax had sued Playtech and several of its licensees over Playtech’s Twister sit n’ go game format, which Winamax believed infringed on its own Expresso three-handed ‘hyper-turbo’ lottery-style poker product. But earlier this month, the court rejected this argument, saying Expresso was “neither innovative nor original” and ordered Winamax to pay Playtech, Betclic Everest and Unibet €3k apiece.

Bwin France migrates to PartyPoker network

Bwin.fr’s poker network merges with the partypoker France network signifying the potential end of the Ongame network in the regulated French market.

Bwin France Migrates to Partypoker NetworkIt’s on.

After months of talk, Bwin.party is finally shifting the bwin.FR brand to the partypoker France network after months of expectation.

Pokerfuse scribe, Nick Jones, reportedly picked up the news on the companies official Facebook page, and believes that the move will see the two players pools merge onto the partypoker software.

“That’s great news,” said Parisian poker player and businessman Jeremy Nock, “The partypoker software is better and smoother than the previous Bwin software.”

Bwin have remained on the Ongame network since selling it to Amaya Gaming back in 2012 and their departure now leaves tumbleweed rolling down the halls of the cyber space that cost the Canadian outfit over €15 million just two years ago.

Partypoker France is currently the third largest network in the regulated French market, with Winamax and PokerStars leading the way. The merger is a positive step in bwin.party’s attempt to gain traction on the leading two, in a market that has been increasingly difficult to squeeze a profit out of.

“Online sites in France have been reducing their guaranteed online tournaments because of a reduced numbers of players. It seems the regulated markets kill the action due to increased taxation. The dream of winning a huge score is diminishing. The max you can win in France, during an online tourney, is around €25K,” said Nock.

The move comes after bwin.party digital entertainment delivered a crushing H1 report that showed revenues down 7.5%, earnings down 23% and an operating loss of €100.4 million.

The news from that report was the European focus would be on the bwin brand with partypoker and the World Poker Tour dominating their thoughts in the US market.

This weekend saw the servers crash during partypoker’s inaugural Garden State Super Series (GSSS) online poker series, in New Jersey, resulting in the companies Director of Poker, Jeffrey Haas, publishing an apology to the players stating they “had been humbled by this experience and appreciate the inconvenience and lack of confidence experienced by our players, and are so sorry.”

Bwin.party Agree Three-Year Deal With Marseille

With sponsorship deals tied up in England, Germany, Italy, Belgium and Spain, it only needed a significant presence in France to allow Bwin.party to smother the sponsorship cloak over the top tier of European football; and that goal has been smashed into the back of the net after Norbert Teufelberger’s troops secured a three-year deal to become the official online betting and gaming partner of Olympique de Marseille.

The sponsorship package will allow Bwin.party players to get closer to the only French club to ever win a UEFA Champions League trophy, as they plan to roll out a number of fan-based initiatives that will see online casino gamers watching the team train, traveling to fixtures and hosting events where they can meet and mingle with the players.

“We are proud to establish this partnership with Olympique de Marseille, one of the oldest and most successful clubs in France and Europe,” said Bwin.party CEO, Norbert Teufelberger. “Today’s announcement means that we are now partnered with six of the greatest clubs in European football, enabling us to offer our customers an unparalleled range of online and real world offers.”

The news comes just a fortnight after Bwin.party agreed a similar deal with the top Belgian outfit RSC Anderlecht. This means Bwin.party have sponsorship deals with Manchester United (England), Juventus (Italy), Bayern Munich (Germany) and Real Madrid (Spain) giving them an unparalleled reach over European football.

The Road to Old Trafford

If Marseille supporters are unsure as to how Bwin.party will use their ties with the French football team to continue to improve their online gambling relationships, then look no further than the recent Road to Old Trafford initiative that was rolled out over two-days this past weekend at the home of Manchester United.

Bwin.party players were invited to a unique event at Old Trafford stadium that saw United legends of past and present playing poker with them in a joint venture. Darren Fletcher, Bryan Robson, Norman Whiteside, Dwight Yorke and Quinton Fortune all spent time with the Bwin.party players, and some of them even competed in fun poker tournaments, giving the players the chance to speak to their heroes.

In addition, at least a dozen free tickets were given out to watch Rio Ferdinand’s testimonial against Seville, eight lucky winners got to watch the first team training at Carrington training ground, and a whole host of prizes such as signed shirts, caps, boots and balls were also given out as prizes.

The event also saw a £250 No-Limit Hold’em (NLHE) tournament held over the two days and the Manchester United fan Sam Trickett took home the top prize. The most successful poker player in British history said: “I am really happy to win this event – I played for fun but I felt I really had to win at Old Trafford – I made it my mission!

Trickett won £10,000 for coming first and donated a significant portion of that prize to the Rio Ferdinand’s Live the Dream Foundation. Yours truly finished 19th for a £390 prize and donated all of my proceedings to the girlfriend’s Buy More Bags and Shoes Foundation.

French sport star Nikola Karabatic held over match-fixing

French police have detained double Olympic gold medal winner Nikola Karabatic and several other players in connection with allegations of match-fixing and illegal betting in French handball.

At least seven players in the French league were placed under formal arrest, a source close to the investigation said, without naming the players.

A police source said eight players for Montpellier, including Karabatic and his brother, Luka, two players for Paris Saint-Germain formerly with Montpellier, a member of staff for Montpellier and a player's girlfriend had been detained for questioning in the probe.

Five of the Montpellier players, including Nikola Karabatic, Tunisian Wissem Hmam, Frenchman Mickael Robin, and Slovenians Dragan Gajic and Primoz Prost, were put into police cars and driven away in a convoy, an AFP journalist at the scene said.

The team's physiotherapist, Yann Montiege, also left with police.

The convoy was later seen arriving at the offices of the interior ministry's racing and gaming division in the Paris suburb of Nanterre.

The players were questioned in their dressing rooms at the Pierre de Coubertin stadium in Paris immediately following a match between Montpellier and Paris Saint-Germain, a source close to the players said.

An AFP journalist at the stadium earlier saw plainclothes police showing badges to guards to enter the stadium.

Three people were detained for questioning in Montpellier on Sunday on suspicion of placing illegal bets, a source close to the investigation said.

Karabatic, 28, is considered one of the greatest players of the game and won gold medals with the French team at this year's London Olympics and the 2008 Games in Beijing.

The French professional handball scene was thrown into turmoil on Wednesday after an investigation was ramped up into giants Montpellier over alleged match-fixing and illegal betting.

The south coast club has dominated French handball for 15 years, and officials were quick to protest the innocence of their players.

Suspicions were raised over a match that Montpellier lost 31-28 to Cesson-Sevigne on May 12. At the time, Montpellier were assured of a 13th league title in 15 seasons while the Breton club sat in eighth position.

Betting firm La Francaise des Jeux (FDJ) reported abnormal betting patterns up to five times greater than expected and suspended bets during the match.

Large bets reportedly came in at half-time on a loss for Montpellier, for whom the Karabatic brothers, Mladen Bojinovic, Vid Kavticnik and Samuel Honrubia were not playing because of injury.

France 3 television reported that police had discovered that wives or girlfriends of players and club members had placed bets in three betting shops in the Paris region, the western region of Brittany, and around Montpellier.

France: sports, racing and mobile betting up, but youth ditching regulated sites

Figures released by French gaming regulators ARJEL show an uptick in sports and horseracing betting at regulated online operators in Q1 2012, but poker continues to slide. Sports betting turnover rose 14% to €175m, while gross gaming revenue was up 7% to €37m. Racing produced turnover of €291m (+13%) and revenues of €69m (+20%). Turnover from poker cash games fell 5% to €1.69b, but tournament entry fees were up 26% to €367m, reflecting players’ desire to seek relief from the steep government-mandated rake imposed by the regulated sites. The net result was a 3% overall poker revenue drop to €83m.

Mobile betting has increased in popularity over the past year, with the percentage of sports bettors wagering on the go more than doubling (from 7% to 15%) and almost quadrupling for poker players (from 4% to 15%), spurred by France’s recent approval of gaming apps from a variety of operators. The mobile surge wasn’t enough good news for operator Société Jeux 365, who decided last week that it had had enough and requested that ARJEL revoke its gaming license. Of the 41 operators who once held French gaming licenses, 32 are still holding out.

A closer look at France’s numbers reveals a generational divide taking place, with younger bettors increasingly choosing to wager with online operators not sanctioned/burdened by French regulators. Horseracing, which has never quite caught on with younger bettors, saw the number of active accounts rise 9%. But the number of active sports bettors fell 3% overall, and betting with regulated online operators fell 44% among the 18-24 age demographic. Poker accounts held by this same age group dropped to 230k from 340k in 2011. Players under the age of 35 now constitute 55% of the total pool, compared with 61% in 2011.

bwin.party confirms merger of bwin France with Sajoo

bwin.party digital entertainment said Friday that it will merge its bwin France online gaming business with Sajoo.fr, the joint venture between bwin and French media group Amaury Group.

bwin.party said that it has decided to merge the two online gaming businesses as a result of the “challenging regulatory and fiscal regime that currently prevails in France” and in order to “drive greater value for both parties.”

The company has not disclosed any terms of the merger, but said that the combination will deliver real financial benefits in a number of areas including marketing and shared resources and that as a result, the combined entity will be “much better placed to deliver attractive financial returns.”

bwin and its local joint venture partner, Amaury Group, launched and developed online gaming services under the brand Sajoo to take advantage of the partial liberalisation of the French gaming market last year.

The company was among the first wave of operators to receive licences for sports betting and poker from regulator ARJEL in June 2010.

“Combining the resources of SAjOO and bwin France makes perfect sense and will only enhance our already strong position in the French market,” said Norbert Teufelberger, co-CEO of bwin.party. “With the prospect of a more commercial regulatory framework in 2012, we look forward to building a market leading enterprise with our long-standing partner.”

With an estimated 9 per cent share of the French online betting market, Sajoo.fr has already surpassed the goals set at its launch last year.

“This merger creates a new force in the French market, one that we expect will prosper over the months and years to come,” said Philippe Carli, Amaury Group’s CEO. “We remain optimistic that the current review of the existing regulatory framework being conducted by the French Government will result in significant improvements to the legal and regulatory framework.

“In this context, Amaury group is strengthening its involvement with bwin France, one of the sector’s leading operators.”

ARJEL suspends Full Tilt licence in France

French regulator ARJEL has suspended Full Tilt's licence for the foreseeable future. Rekop Limited, Full Tilt’s French licence holder, has had its licence suspended as a “precautionary” measure.

The ARJEL panel said a suspension, the length of which has yet to be determined, was necessary due to the dot.fr site’s inaccessibility following the original multiple licence suspension by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission last week and the company’s need to seek additional financial guarantees to continue operating.

ARJEL said it was, and would, remain in contact with Full Tilt to ensure refinancing conditions are met in the interest and protection of players in France.

Just days after Black Friday on 15 April the French regulator gave Rekop notice to generate new certificates of the bank managing its French business proving it had enough funds to pay players and continue operating, however it has so far been unable to do so in France as well as globally.

Full Tilt is facing an increasingly uncertain future with all its current operational licences now suspended, world-wide accounts frozen and two of its founders named in the original Black Friday indictments. It has also yet to pay back any of its US customers.

James Hollins, analyst at Evolution Securities, said that with zero cash income following Full Tilt's complete licensing base suspension, the situation could become "terminal" for the business if its cashflow issues are not resolved soon.

Late last week it emerged Full Tilt could reportedly be on the verge of selling a majority stake in parent company Pocket Kings to unnamed European investors, however no further news has since materialised with various sources connected to the company unable to comment.

France: Ladbrokes out, Unibet in

Ladbrokes will not launch in France and has pulled out of its proposed sports betting joint venture with Canal+ after it decided tax conditions made the market economically unviable.

The decision coincides with Unibet being awarded sports betting, poker and horseracing licences by French regulator ARJEL, reported La Tribune on Friday. The operator said it hoped to go live by late 2010 or early 2011.

Commenting on Ladbrokes’ decision Gary McIlraith, Ladbrokes managing director of digital channels, international and strategy said: “Together with our partners we have concluded that the French market is now taxed at such a prohibitive level that it does not represent an attractive investment. We will continue to monitor the French marketplace but for the time being will not progress with the launch plans.”

A Ladbrokes spokesman added that the recent confirmation by French authorities that operators would also be required to pay VAT had been the final straw. “Online gambling services in France are already subject to turnover-based taxes and payments to sport and it was recently confirmed that they would also be subject to VAT charges. Initial market size figures from ARJEL have also been below expectations,” he said.

Ladbrokes’ French withdrawal comes only two weeks after French regulator ARJEL released its initial data on the performance of the legal market in its first four months since it launched in June. This showed it was just a quarter the size of the offshore market prior to regulation, despite ARJEL’s figures now including contributions from former monopolies PMU and FDJ.

Chief executives of new market entrants including Nicolas Beraud of BetClic owner Mangas Gaming, Alex Dreyfus of Chiligaming and Emmanuel de Rohan Chabot of ZETurf last week used the platform of France’s first ever egaming conference, Monaco’s iGaming Exchanges, to call for tax rates, betting duties, the registration process and payback conditions to be revised. According to Beraud, the French system was failing to bring the illegal market onshore and in its publicly stated aim of protecting the consumer.

Ladbrokes joins Sportingbet and Paddy Power as high-profile operators which decided against entering the market on a B2C basis, with Sportingbet also opting to cancel its B2B agreements with newspapers Le Monde and L’Express.

Unibet’s announcement in May that it was to enter the French licensing process led to 25% of its share price being wiped out the following week, with investors worried about only a marginal contribution from a key market due to high tax rates and the absence of Unibet’s core casino product. In August, chief executive Henrik Tjarnstrom was then forced to defend the prospect of zero revenues from France in the third-quarter of 2010 due to this decision.

888 gets French licence

888 has received a licence from French regulator ARJEL for its joint poker network with Microgaming targeting the French market.

Also licensed by ARJEL was the first operator scheduled to launch on 888 and Microgaming’s new network, La Société Française des Jeux sur Internet (SFJI).

SFJI was established in May of this year by 40 independent land-based casinos in France to launch a poker offering, most likely under the 200pourcentpoker brand.

SFJI is also the first deal for Spiral Solutions France, Spin3 parent company Spiral Solutions’ B2B partnership with land-based casino supplier Santa-Maria Group targeting the French poker market.

888 joins Bwin, PartyGaming, PokerStars, Bwin, BetClic and Everest as major operators now licensed in the re-regulated French market.

BetClic CEO: French authorities to toughen up on gambling law

With new French gambling laws now firmly in place and punters presumably enjoying the freedom of betting on World Cup games and poker legally, all that remains to be seen is how France’s authorities might react to now-illegal operators within the country. At least one CEO guesses that crackdowns will be coming soon.

Speaking yesterday on a panel at an online gaming industry conference known as EGR Live, BetClic CEO Nicolas Beraud stated emphatically that he is “waiting for the first actions today” from French law enforcement – though no such action was reported as happening. Beraud went on to state that French authorities had been telling “us for two years that they will be very aggressive with illegal operators and they will pursue and block them very quickly.”

Beraud and other experts have said that the expected punishment would involve advertising bans on unlicensed sportsbooks, poker rooms and online casinos in France.

Beraud went on to cite Italy as an example of an attempted failure to simply firewall off the offending websites.

Echoing an industry view, Beraud said that the main reason online casino operators might try to do business in France despite the new regulations was because of exorbitant tax rates. British bookmakers William Hill and Betfair announced their departure from the French market, citing unfair taxation practices.

The sweeping changes to gambling laws in France were put into effect on June 11, opening the French market to government-licensed foreign-based online gambling sites.

Bwin, BetClic, Everest among first French licensees

Bwin has achieved the distinction of being the only non-French operator among the first wave of online gaming licences handed out by French regulator ARJEL this morning.

The Austrian operator received licences to offer poker and sports betting into the French market both directly via its BES SAS French subsidary and in partnership with media conglomerate Amaury Group. Mangas Gaming-owned Everest Poker was the only other operator with significant business outside of France among the 11 operators directly licensed by the French regulatory authority this morning.

Other major egaming operators now in the French market on a B2B basis via partnerships with licensed operators include PartyGaming, via its poker JV with PMU, Paddy Power through providing fixed odds pricing and risk management to PMU, and Unibet, providing pools-based sports betting via France Pari, announced this morning. Software provider Orbis is also providing PMU with its sports betting platforms.

Alex Dreyfus, chief executive of ChiliGaming, awarded a sports betting licence for its joint venture with French telecoms and internet service provider group Iliad, told EGRMagazine.com that the pair had worked “18 months on this project to be one of the first to have a licence.”

Dreyfus however added that the “very tough” technology and compliance requirements of the ARJEL meant they would not be ready to go live ahead of the football World Cup, which starts this Friday.

The ChiliGaming chief executive also remarked on the fact that only one non-French operator, Bwin, was in the first round of approvals. “I think it was a first filter. But they are going to issue more licences at the end of the month,” he added.

The full list of licence approvals this morning was as follows:

BetClic (BetClic.fr): pari-mutuel horse race betting, poker, sports– fixed odds and pool betting.
Beturf (Groupe Paris Turf): pari-mutuel horse race betting.
BES SAS (Bwin’s French subsidiary: Bwin.fr): poker, sports – fixed odds and pool betting.
Bwin/Amaury Groupe (Sajoo.fr): poker, sports – fixed odds and pool betting.
EverestPoker (EverestPoker.fr): poker.
France Pari (France-Pari.fr): sports – pool betting.
La Française des Jeux (ParionsWeb.fr): sports – fixed odds and pool betting.
Iliad Gaming/ChiliGaming (Chilipari.fr): sports – fixed odds and pool betting
Pari Mutuel Urbain (Pmu.fr): poker, sports – fixed odds and pool betting.
SPS Betting (Eurosportbet.fr): poker, sports – fixed odds and pool betting.
Table 14 (Winamax.fr) : poker.

French online рoker gets dealt bad hand in France

A slight hitch has come for those operators looking to provide online poker sites in France: namely, a slight delay in the issuance of licenses to June 28th. Licenses for foreign providers of horse race wagering and sports betting are expected to be released on June 11th – just hours before the 2010 World Cup kicks off.

While the draft law regarding changes to French gambling laws to allow foreign operators the legality to accept French online gamers at horse betting, sportsbook and online casino websites was approved by the French Parliament on May 13, the government of Malta had subsequently filed a complaint with European authorities over certain legal provisions regarding Internet poker in the law.

The Maltese government cited possible violation of the “freedom of goods and services” so critical to the European Commission in cases of government regulation of Internet gambling websites. A spokesperson for the French Regulatory Authority on Online Gambling (ARJEL) stated that the complaint was simply a formality, “a problem of European procedure” and that licenses for interested parties would be issued on June 11 as planned.

A maximum of 30 licenses may be issued under provisions of the new law and 20 gaming companies have applied, including names like Bwin, BetClic and Microgaming, all of which have applied for poker in addition to other licensing.

Some U.K.-based bookmakers such as William Hill and Betfair made announcements that they would be leaving the French market due to the unfairness of the new law. Betfair officially labeled the French regulations as “protectionist” and “not adequately (opening) the former monopoly's market to true competition from other operators.”

The online gambling law passed French Parliament with over 57% of the vote. At that time, issuance of licenses was targeted for some point before the World Cup – a goal the government will just barely make now, at least for sportsbook websites.

France: Constitutional Council clears new egaming laws

France's Constitutional Council, the highest constitutional authority in the country, has declared that new laws regulating online gaming are constitutional, paving the way for a French egaming licence system.

The decision yesterday afternoon follows an appeal to the Council by the French Socialist Party in the wake of the law being voted in by the National Assembly on 6 April.

It dismisses all the complaints against the regulation presented by its opponents, which included that the law infringes the public’s right to health protection and that it contravenes the principle of equality in taxation, and will lead to the creation of the new Autorité de Régulation des Jeux en Ligne (ARJEL) egaming regulator.

Official decrees providing details of the regulation such as tax rates, which products will be authorised and how the regulation will function will be published by French budget minister François Baroin shortly.