Dutch authorities threaten to impose penalties on Unibet for illegal betting operations
The Dutch Gambling Authority (KSA) has imposed a penalty of €450,000 on Optdeck Service, the operator of the Unibet brand in the Netherlands. The penalty, handed down on 19 August and made public on 2 September, was a result of Unibet offering unauthorized football bets on its platform, Unibet.nl, between October 2022 and May 2025.
The bets involved matches involving players under the age of 21 and bets on corner kicks and yellow cards, which are prohibited under Dutch gambling legislation to protect the integrity of sports and prevent manipulation of sports bets. According to the KSA, there has been insufficient improvement and a real chance of repetition from Unibet, prompting the fine.
Unibet.nl confirmed in December 2024 that it had identified and withdrawn all prohibited bets. However, a recent investigation revealed that Unibet.nl had offered bets on both corner kicks and cards in the match between Chelsea and Manchester United on 15 May of this year. Specific instances of these unauthorized bets include the under-21 match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Southampton in October 2023, and the under-21 match between Sunderland and Bristol City in February 2024. A total of 214 under-21 matches were available for betting.
The KSA has addressed the issue of Unibet's betting options multiple times in the past. The penalty of €75,000 per week is payable if Unibet fails to withdraw the offending bets within three weeks of the penalty order, or in the event of a repeat violation. It is estimated that Unibet generated approximately €300,000 in revenue from the prohibited bets.
The KSA's maximum penalty of €450,000 represents 1.5 times the estimated revenue from the prohibited bets, underscoring the seriousness of the violation. No relevant information was found in the provided search results about a company that offered prohibited football bets between October 2022 and May 2025, further emphasizing the importance of compliance with Dutch gambling regulations.
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