The 2024 Summer Olympics will soon begin. This will be the XXXIII Olympics since Pierre de Coubertin restored the tradition of these sports competitions. The venue is the capital of France, where the world's leading athletes will compete from July 26 until August 11, 2024. This will be the second time that Paris will host the Summer Olympics, the previous time it was held there in 1900. And for the first time during the active phase of the huge war on the European continent.
For Ukrainian athletes, this Olympics will be quite difficult not only because of the war started by russia, which prevents them from preparing for the competition properly and fully. This year's Olympics will be held with a much lower level of support for both sports teams and individual athletes from the traditional sponsors of the competition - companies organizers of the legal gambling market.
All this is due to the ban on advertising their activities recently introduced by the government for the period until the adoption of draft law No. 9256-d. This bill provides for the introduction of stricter rules on gambling advertising than the current ones.
Thus, two months before the start of the 2024 Olympics, the government adopted the following amendments to Resolution No. 566 of May 17, 2024 "Some Issues of Counteracting the Negative Effects of Gambling on the Internet", which prohibit gambling and betting advertising and restrict the ability of athletes to use sponsor symbols at public events.
Violations of this ban are subject to penalties directed against legal gambling organizers, who sponsor both our Olympic teams in various sports and individual athletes who also act as ambassadors for the companies' commercial brands.
I emphasize that only those companies that have licenses and legally operate in the domestic gambling market are subject to the ban and possible fines. Illegal operators were not affected at all. Worse, as soon as the advertising of licensees disappeared, illegal companies lost any competition from the white market!
As a result, almost everyone lost:
- legal business, as it was left without tools to attract users of its services for an indefinite period of time;
- Media outlets that have lost a significant share of advertising revenue and, consequently, the ability to cover socially important events in a comprehensive and timely manner;
- the state, as it will receive less tax revenue from both legal gambling and the media;
- athletes and sports teams that will have to rely on less support from sponsors, etc.
And who won? The winners are illegal organizers and the corrupt officials who feed off them.
Of course, no one argues that the gambling advertising sphere should be regulated and effective at the same time, it is unambiguous. However, if only the white market will suffer as a result of regulation, then, compared to the current situation, not only will nothing change, but it will become even worse - illegal gambling companies currently account for about 70% of online traffic and no responsibility, and it will get even worse. However, for some reason, legal organizers are to blame for everything. So, maybe the regulatory policy should be reoriented to fight against illegal operators?
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