Sportsbet.io has fallen under the blacklist of unlicensed igaming operators within Switzerland.
The site initially launched in the UK last year under a license from TGP Europe. It was last month named Arsenal’s official betting partner and will serve as shirt sponsor of fellow Premier League club Southampton FC for the 2020-21 season.
Coingaming Group, owner of Sportsbet.io, has their sports betting brand amongst other 140+ domains that are blocked by Swiss telecommunications service providers under order from the Eidgenössische Spielbankenkommission (ESBK).
Estonia-headquartered Coingaming Group’s bitcasino.io site was also blocked by the Swiss authorities in August. The group, which has more than 300 employees, has offices in Estonia, Ukraine, the UK and Malaysia. Last month, Maarja Pärt was named as Coingaming’s new chief executive.
First published in September of last year, Switzerland’s blacklists are updated on a regular basis, highlighting domains that the ESBK or the Inter-Cantonal Lotteries and Betting Commission (Comlot) say are operating illegally in the country. Bet365 became the highest profile name on the list when it was added last September.
Bc.game, Allrightcasino.com and Campobet.com are among the dozens of names that have been added since the list was last updated just two months ago. We might keep seeing these bans across multiple waves.
Foreign gambling sites are to be banned in Switzerland, after Swiss citizens overwhelmingly backed a new gambling law, replacing the 1923 Lotteries and Betting Act and the 1998 Gambling Act, back in a June 2018 referendum.