ARJEL announces latest sports betting restrictions

French regulator L’Autorité de régulation des jeux en ligne (ARJEL) has updated its list of sporting competitions on which bookmakers are banned from offering odds, with handball and volleyball the latest to have restrictions imposed.

The changes, which are similar to those introduced for football and basketball in December last year, ban customers from placing bets on ‘irrelevant’ matches, as in games which have no impact on whether a team qualifies for European competition, wins the league, or is promoted or relegated from their divison. Punters are also banned from betting on matches where each team’s league position will not change regardless of the result.

France’s top two men’s volleyball leagues ““ Ligue A and B ““ are affected alongside the women’s Ligue A, while the country’s top two male handball leagues ““ Championnat Division 1 and 2 ““ and women’s top division are also subject to the new legislation.

Bets placed on handball are also subject to further restrictions, with punters no longer able to place bets on the team winning each half, which team will score the most goals in a half, and the number of scorers per team per match. Meanwhile, bets on the top scorer of a league are to be suspended three days before the end of a season.

As with the restrictions on football and basketball, the changes are designed to safeguard players against gambling addiction, and preserve integrity in sport by presenting fewer opportunities for match fixing.

Meanwhile ARJEL has rejected a request by Pari-Mutuel Urbain to offer odds on the French woman’s football championship. PMU requested that the league be added to the list of approved betting events in December 2012, but the French football federation la Fédération Française de Football advised the regulator that the sport did not have a high-enough profile to attract significant interest.