Romania bans use of celebrities in gambling ads
The National Audiovisual Council introduces new rules in the updated Audiovisual Regulatory Code.
Romania.- The National Audiovisual Council (CNA) has voted to prohibit the use of celebrities in gambling advertisements across television, radio, and online platforms. The decision, adopted during a public meeting yesterday (June 26) will see the introduction of a new restriction within the updated Audiovisual Regulatory Code, which serves as the CNA’s secondary legislative framework.
According to the Romanian media news site Pagina de Media, the revised Article 110, paragraph 7 states that advertising content that features individuals with public, cultural, scientific, or sporting status, or those whose online influence could potentially encourage gambling, is now banned. This rule is set to take effect 90 days after the updated code is implemented.
Operators such as Winbet and Kaizergaming had requested a compromise to permit celebrity appearances in responsible gambling campaigns. This call was backed by the Romanian Football Federation, the Federation of Gambling Organisers and the Romanian Bureau for Transmedia Audit. However, all attempts to maintain some exceptions to allow celebrity endorsements failed.
Historically, Romanian gambling ads have featured well-known figures such as former footballers Răzvan Raț, Cristi Pulhac, Adrian Mutu, and Dan Petrescu, as well as tennis icon Ilie Năstase and pop artists like Antonia and Alex Velea.
Save the Children Romania had launched a campaign this month calling for such a move. Dubbed No Stars, the initiative drew attention to the prevalence of celebrities in gambling promotions. The revised code also introduces new obligations for on-demand audiovisual services, requiring compliance with regulations aimed at protecting minors from gambling-related content.
Earlier in the week, the Romanian gambling regulator, the ONJN, said it had written to Meta and Google to ask them to improve monitoring of gambling advertising on their platforms. It says it found adverts for operators that are on its blacklist but were able to specifically targeting Romanian players via Meta’s Facebook, Instagram and Messenger and in Google search results.
The regulator noted that Romanian law considers enabling unlicensed gambling through content distribution, payment or IT services to be illegal and that fines of up to 100,000 lei (€20,000) can be issued to both operators and hosting platforms.
Meanwhile, a bill proposes a new gambling self-exclusion system in Romania. It would order the creation of a new online gambling self-exclusion register on the website of the national gambling regulator, the ONJN. There would be a minimum 12-month cooling-off period for indefinite self-exclusion, and those who exclude would be referred to addiction support services.
The USR is also proposing a bill that would limit player spending to 10 per cent of declared monthly income. The proposals follow controversy around the role of the Romanian gambling regulator after a Court of Accounts (CCR) audit of the ONJN found serious irregularities in its supervision of gambling licences, including its collection of authorisation fees and gambling tax. The regulator was found to have failed to enforce a legal requirement to gain remote access to online gambling licensees’ systems, which prevented it from being able to verify transaction data.
