The Ksa has issued a stern warning to operators One Casino and bet365 following the discovery of major infringements concerning their sports betting offer in 2025.
More than ever, the Dutch regulator has put the technological vigilance of gaming operators under the microscope. The Kansspelautoriteit (Ksa) has officially notified One Casino and bet365 of a breach of their legal obligations. At the heart of the matter is the protection of sporting integrity and the fight against match-fixing.
In 2025, checks carried out by the regulator revealed that these two licensees had offered betting markets on football matches played by teams whose players were under the age of 21. This infringement, far from being anecdotal, affects one of the pillars of Dutch regulation.
The under-21 red line
Dutch legislation is unequivocal on this point. The law on games of chance (Wet op de kansspelen) formally prohibits any betting on competitions involving minors or young adults (U21).
The reason given by the Ksa is pragmatic: the increased risk of matchfixing. Young athletes are considered to be prime targets for criminal networks seeking to manipulate results.
More susceptible to influence and often less financially protected than their experienced elders, these players represent a weak link in the chain of sporting integrity. In the regulator’s view, banning betting on these matches means taking the wind out of the sails of potential fixers.
Anatomy of technical failures
The Ksa’s investigation revealed shortcomings in the bid management systems. However, for the regulator, technical error does not absolve responsibility.
The One Casino case: Classification error
At One Casino, the incident stemmed from a labelling error in the database. A match between U21 teams was incorrectly recorded by the system as a standard “international friendly”. This incorrect classification automatically opened up the betting markets.
Following the Ksa’s intervention, the operator reacted quickly:
- Retroactive cancellation of all bets concerned.
- Compensation for players affected.
- Announcement of additional corrective measures to secure their classification process.
The bet365 case: Towards greater automation
The giant bet365 has also pleaded registration error to justify the presence of odds on a banned match. The operator describes the incident as a one-off error.
To prevent any recurrence, bet365 has carried out a control audit and deployed new automated systems. The aim is to create digital barriers preventing the publication of odds as soon as the metadata for a match indicates the presence of U21 players.
The operator’s absolute responsibility
The Ksa’s conclusion is scathing for the industry: technology must be infallible. These incidents serve as technical jurisprudence for the entire market. The regulator is hammering home the point that providers must keep their systems and control protocols in order at all times.
It is not enough to react after the fact. Operators must implement proactive safeguards to filter prohibited content before it reaches the site’s front end. Ksa reiterates that the ultimate responsibility for the offering rests entirely with the licensee at all times, and not with its third-party data providers.