(PRESS RELEASE) -- In what can only be described as a puzzling turn of events, UEFA banned Lyon from carrying their shirt sponsor – online betting operator BetClic - in last night’s Champions League tie, despite Spanish laws making it perfectly legal for them to do so.
Their opponents Real Madrid, sponsored by online betting firm bwin, display the logo week in week out in Spanish football and did so again last night, prompting bewilderment as to why their French visitors were banned from doing the same.
The double standards on display angered BetClic Chief Executive Nicolas Beraud and Lyon chairman Jean-Michael Aulas, who issued a joint-statement before the match criticizing UEFA’s actions, stating that since the tie was being played in Spain, where advertising of online-betting is permitted, the order had “no legal basis.”
Despite fundamental EU laws aimed at ensuring the freedom of cross-border trade and services, several member states continue to ban legal EU betting firms from their territories, while allowing local monopolies to offer the exact same services to their citizens.
Right2bet, an organization fighting for the rights of consumers to bet with whichever licensed EU operator they choose, has constantly offered opposition to what it believes are the unlawful actions of certain governments, and UEFA’s intervention has left them surprised.
Right2bet spokesman Ari Last said: “Last night’s farcical situation in Madrid highlights the inconsistent and illogical regulatory environment that currently exists within the EU regarding online betting.
“The Champions League represents everything that is wonderful about cross-border integration and competition in the EU, and we can’t understand why UEFA imposed the restriction upon Lyon last night.
“We share the grievances of BetClic and Lyon in regard to this decision.”
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