Chilean football association drops Betsson sponsorship deal
Betsson will no longer be the title sponsor of Chile’s Campeonato Nacional.
Chile.- The National Association of Professional Football (ANFP) has been forced to drop its title deal with Betsson AB for the Campeonato Nacional. It says the contract has been terminated as of yesterday (October 15) due to a recent Supreme Court decision on the legality of gambling.
The Supreme Court ruled in favour of the football pools operator Polla Chilena, which lodged a complaint against unlicensed sports betting. The court clarified that sports betting is currently illegal in Chile. As such, it ordered all sporting bodies to end sponsorship deals with unlicensed gambling operators.
The court identified 23 operators as illegally working in the Chilean market. It named them as bwin, Betano, Betway, Betcris, Betsson, BetWarrior, BetSala, Betfair, Betplay, Bodog, bet365, Coolbet, JuegaenLinea, 1xbet, Rivalo, Rojabet, Micasino, Latamwin, Estelarbet, KTO, Marathonbet, Rushbet and Sportingbet.
ANFP president Pablo Milad said he would appeal against the move. However, the association has now confirmed that the contract, which was agreed in 2022, has been dropped. Various individual football clubs also have contracts with online sports betting operators.
Chile’s online gambling legislation
Chile is working on proposals to regulate online gambling by the end of this year. The government has accepted resolutions proposed by the Chamber of Deputies Economic Commission, comprising 15 new articles that define the online gambling activities to be licensed and those to be prohibited.
Drafted by economic undersecretary Heidi Berner with the assistance of Vivien Villagrán, the superintendent of Gaming Casinos Chile (SCJ), the articles are part of the legislative framework for Bill 035/2022, which will legalise online gambling and sports betting.
Since the bill was authorised in March, government departments have been working on policy provisions. The new articles set out the context for the prosecution of criminal activity connected to online gambling, introducing criminal penalties for the violation of online gambling regulations.
Last month, the National Congress announced the creation of a commission to review Chile’s rules on sports betting advertising. The commission, led by sports minister Jaime Pizarro, will review the relationships between football clubs and both international and domestic gambling companies. It will also probe a disagreement between the National Association of Professional Football (ANFP) and the Ministry of Justice about betting sponsorship
