European gambling regulators issue joint warning over prediction market risks

On June 17, 2026 the gambling regulators of Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland published a joint statement on prediction markets, timed to the start of the football World Cup. The statement, published on France’s ANJ website, warns about the risks of these platforms and says the regulators will cooperate and act against platforms that break local rules.

What the statement says

• The concern: a rise in gambling around the World Cup is amplified by the popularity of prediction markets, which combine round-the-clock access, no built-in betting limits and weak age and identity checks.
• The risks named: illegality where there is no local licence, blocked player funds, fraud through insider information, financial volatility and serious dependency problems.
• The commitments: close cooperation, enforcement of local rules against platforms that do not comply, sharing of information and expertise across borders, and more safer-gambling messaging on social media during the tournament.
• A reminder to sport: federations, leagues and teams should check that a prediction market is legal in their territory before signing a major partnership.

The statement is a warning and a pledge to coordinate. It does not name a platform, set a deadline or announce a specific sanction, and it does not create a new law: each regulator acts under its own national rules.

What it means for players

The statement ties its warning to platforms that have no local licence, and it lists blocked funds, the difficulty of recovering them and the absence of deposit limits and robust age checks among the concerns. If you are considering one, look for a licence from your own country’s regulator on the regulator’s website, not a claim on the platform’s page, and treat the lack of limits as a reason for more caution, not less. Our guide to checking a casino licence explains how to confirm a licence record.

Sources and update record

• ANJ: Déclaration de 9 régulateurs de jeux d’argent européens sur les marchés de prédiction, June 17, 2026.
• Focus Gaming News, June 18, 2026 (original report).

Updated October 1, 2026 to base this article on the regulators’ own statement, remove enforcement details the statement does not contain, and add a player-facing note.