FDJ United’s Unibet brand has received another sanction from the Dutch gambling regulator, Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), this time for offering unauthorised sports betting.
According to a report from the regulator, on several occasions between October 2022 and May 2025, Optdeck, which provides games of chance under the Unibet brand in the Netherlands, offered football betting on corner kicks and yellow cards, as well as on under-21 matches.
The KSA has stated that 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 regulator noted that it repeatedly contacted Unibet about the betting offering but saw “insufficient improvement and a real risk of recurrence”.
As a result, the KSA is imposing a penalty of €75,000 per week on Unibet for each week in which a violation occurs, with €450,000 being the maximum penalty.
UPDATE: When contacted by iGaming Expert for comment, a Unibet spokesperson said: “Unibet treats signals from the Gaming Authority (KSA) very seriously. Following previously identified errors in our sportsbook offering, we have worked with our sportsbook provider to modify the systems to be compliant and aligned with the feedback from the KSA.
“We will continue to address further input and recommendations from the KSA.”
Previous warnings
This is the second time Unibet has been on the receiving end of disciplinary action recently by the Dutch regulator.
Back in June, the KSA sent two warnings for advertising and autoplay failures linked to a cycling team sponsorship and a BonusBuy function in one of their titles.
At the time of writing, iGaming Expert was told by a Unibet spokesperson 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.
Unibet sponsors the Tietema Rockets cycling team, with the brand logo being present on a coach which was used to transport the team in the Netherlands and for additional purposes. The Dutch authority stated that this violated the non-targeted advertising ban.
The KSA noted that the operator was “not aware that the bus was also used for other transport and that monitoring various sponsorship agreements can be complex”, and that the team was asked to stop using the bus immediately, with modified stickers provided instead without the Unibet brand logo.
Regarding the autoplay violation, BonusBuy allows players to automatically continue playing with purchased bonuses without having to begin a new game. The regulator said that this is prohibited as it encourages players to excessively gamble.
Speaking with the operator, the regulator stated that the BonusBuy feature was activated incorrectly by the supplier due to a third-party error, with players who suffered losses during a two-hour period where it was live being compensated. Measures were taken to make sure the same mistake isn’t repeated.
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