The college of the French National Gaming Authority (ANJ) has elected to re-evaluate its list of eligible sports bets. Since 2010, sports bettors in France have only been able to make specific bets on certain sports, though since this time the ‘sports list’ has been routinely updated; having ‘lost its readability and consistency’ according to the ANJ.
This new update, which was decided in December, aims to prevent manipulation of the market through the prohibiting of bets ‘that do not rely on the know-how and sporting knowledge of the bettors.’ It also aims to limit betting on certain competitions.
The first area affected by the updated sports list is the list of events and competitions that can be bet on. In the updated list, 179 competitions have been removed. Some competitions have been removed as they are no longer practiced, while others were removed due to their likelihood for manipulation – one example given by the ANJ being the first-level Tunisian football championship.
Others, such as the championship of first-level Armenian football, were removed due to no longer meeting ‘the legal criteria for inclusion on the list because they appear to be devoid of significance or notoriety.’
In total, the list now consists of 772 competitions.
Additionally, while new wording has been created to better articulate the limitations on the types of results punters can bet on, the number of bets that can be placed has not decreased. Instead, these bets have been placed into broader categorisation.
Certain limitations and caps in tennis and basketball betting have also been removed, with one example being the lifting of restrictions around “player(s) who score(s) 20 points or more” result types from basketball.
The decision comes following the previous update from the ANJ, which was in regard to the authority's examination of upcoming gambling advertising proposals from operators in the nation.
