Dutch football club avoids KSA action over proposed advert

A football club in the Netherlands has avoided enforcement action from the regulator Kansspelautoriteit by withdrawing a proposed advertisement.

The KSA did not reveal the team in question but said the club wished to display a “life-size image” of the team’s captain on a “prominent” inner-city building.

The KSA said the club’s sponsorship agreement with an online gaming provider, whose logo features on the front of the team’s shirt, would have made the advert a “violation” of the ban on untargeted advertising.

The first phase of the ban was brought in by the regulator last summer with the aim of boosting player protection efforts in the Netherlands.

“The KSA has informed the football club, the provider and the municipality where the advertisement would be placed of its position,” it said.

“In addition, the KSA announced that if they continued with their plans, the KSA would impose a preventive sanction. The football club then announced that it would withdraw the intended advertising and thus cease the violation in advance.”