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The government blocked 548,420 illegal betting and gambling websites between 2006 and 2025, including 84,000 in 2025 alone.
These comments echo a similar sentiment emphasised at the country’s Directorate of Communications panel event on illegal betting and addiction on 10 September. Deputy Minister of Interior Ali Çelik suggested that curbing addiction would lead to a decrease in illegal betting activity.
Çelik said: “If we can eliminate this sector, we will also minimise the funds flowing into the hands of the next criminal organisation.”
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But Entain warned the current timeline, which would enforce the ban by August 2027, was not timely enough, allowing unlicensed operators to sponsor Premier League clubs for another full season.
Premier League clubs are prohibited from any form of gambling front-of-shirt sponsor, after a voluntary ban came in from the start of the 2026-27 campaign.
But Entain found 11 of the current 20 Premier League clubs still hold sponsorship or advertising arrangements with operators that don’t hold a UK licence, up from the government’s estimate of eight.
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She said the government would receive a report every six months on illegal gambling advertising across these platforms.
The KVA’s statement mirrors a broader European regulatory trend where authorities are increasingly scrutinising how major internet platforms facilitate traffic to unlicensed gambling services.
In Sweden, Spelinspektionen recently flagged affiliates and social media as key channels for black market advertising and how affiliate networks redirect search traffic towards unlicensed operators.
