FDJ United’s Unibet brand has told iGaming Expert that it “could have acted sooner” in some duty of care cases with players in the Netherlands, which resulted in a multi-million euro fine from the Dutch gambling authority, Kansspelautoriteit (KSA).
However, the operator has contested some of the conclusions the Dutch regulator has reached with its investigation, stating that the rules during the period of the failings “were less specific than they are now”.
Issuing its defence to the sanctions, Unibet has challenged the KSA over the clarity of Dutch iGaming regulations. The Netherlands’ iGaming framework has been subject to significant changes in the years since the online market was launched in 2021 and during which Unibet’s breaches occurred.
Duty of care failures
The KSA issued a €4m fine to Unibet’s operator in the Dutch market, Optdeck, for failing to comply with duty of care responsibilities between 14 July 2022 and 1 July 2024.
After requesting various player files from Optdeck, the regulator found that all files showed duty of care violations. These included depositing thousands of euros per day with no intervention upon signs of excessive gambling, as well as income information being requested weeks later, even after substantial losses occurred.
The KSA added that the interventions selected were “far too light”, such as easily dismissible pop-up windows, as well as that during financial checks, income streams that aren’t permitted, such as a company account, were included.
Michel Groothuizen, Chair of the KSA, commented: “When there are signs of excessive gambling behaviour and someone wagers a large amount of money in a short period of time, a provider must promptly investigate the source of the money. This can be done by requesting income information.
“It is essential that providers conduct this analysis properly, because not all financial resources can simply be included. The KSA takes violations of its duty of care very seriously and will continue to take strong action against them.”
Rules were less specific than they are now
FDJ United responded sharply to the fine against Unibet. Although acknowledging some mistakes, the French multinational has highlighted some key elements of the KSA investigation and subsequent decision which it disagrees with.
“Unibet takes this matter and its duty of care to provide a safe gaming environment at all times very seriously,” an FDJ United spokesperson told iGaming Expert.
“We acknowledge that, with the knowledge we have now, we could have acted sooner in the case of some of the players investigated. At the same time, we do not agree with some of the conclusions.
“The decision relates to the period June 2022–July 2024, when the rules were less specific than they are now. We applied those rules to the best of our knowledge. In its decision, the KSA applies a stricter interpretation than what was stated in the rules at the time. The legislation and regulations have since been tightened and, since October 2024, there has been a clearer framework for gambling limits.
“Since September 2024, we have been working with a new risk detection system that identifies risky gambling behaviour more quickly and leads to stricter interventions. We are also taking additional measures to protect players. The issues referred to by the KSA are no longer possible on our platform.”
Previous fines
This isn’t the first time Unibet has received disciplinary action from the KSA this year. Back in June, the regulator sent two warnings to the operator for advertising and autoplay failures linked to a cycling team sponsorship and a BonusBuy function in one of their titles.
Unibet noted at the time that the brand took the KSA’s warning “very seriously and took immediate action” to correct the errors, including adjusting branding and compensating affected players.
However, the FDJ United brand received another sanction in September for offering unauthorised sports betting – football betting on corner kicks and yellow cards, as well as on under-21 matches – on several occasions between October 2022 and May 2025.
Under the country’s gambling law, it is prohibited to offer betting on certain matches and event components to protect the integrity of the sport and prevent match manipulation.
The KSA said it repeatedly contacted Unibet about the offering but saw “insufficient improvement and a real risk of recurrence”, so a penalty of €75,000 per week on Unibet for each week in which a violation occurs was imposed, with €450,000 being the maximum penalty.
At the time, Unibet stated that following previously identified errors in its sportsbook offering, it collaborated with its sportsbook provider “to modify the systems to be compliant and aligned with the feedback from the KSA”.
