One of Germany’s largest sportsbooks and a key partner of the country’s football system has opted to cease offering betting on amateur football matches.
Interwetten, founded in Germany in 1990 but now based in Malta, will no longer offer betting on German amateur football on any of its international platforms. Whilst Germany is one of its core markets, it is active across Europe under its Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) licence.
This withdrawal will include both men’s and women’s amateur football. The company stressed that the decision is due to its desire to prevent German players from registering on its international platforms, and to stop international customers from registering on the German domain.
Interwetten is a prominent commercial partner in sports, and not just in Germany where as noted above it is a primary partner of the German Football Association (DFB). The firm also maintains partnerships with the likes of Liverpool FC, the Greek Super League and the NHL, the latter a regional partnership focused on Germany and Austria.
Dr. Holger Blask, CEO of the DFB, “We very much welcome this decision by Interwetten. This shows the partner’s sense of responsibility.
“We are both convinced that a controlled sports betting market with licensed sports betting providers ensures proper game play and thus the integrity of sporting competition, while also taking player protection into account in the best possible way.”
Although not highlighted by Interwetten, the company’s decision does come at an interesting time for German football. Just a couple of weeks ago reports emerged in Germany that police were investigating potential instances of match-fixing across 17 amateur football games.
A range of instances dating back to November 2022 have apparently caught the attention of German law enforcement, with matches spread across the DFB’s 3. Liga, Regionalliga and Oberliga competitions.
German betting is also under a lot of regulatory pressure at the moment as the market continues to adjust to new regulations introduced back in 2021. The country’s new regulatory body for gambling, the GGL, has been amplifying its expectations around player protection and integrity of late.
It is important to note, however, that neither the DFB or Interwetten have cited regulatory pressures or the recent reports of amateur match fixing as a cause for the latter’s recent decision.