The end of a scourge among adolescents? While the law prohibits the sale of gambling to minors, 35% of young people between the ages of 15 and 17 have played gambling at least once, according to a study by the Sedap association carried out in 2021, cited by the National Gaming Authority (ANJ). La Française des Jeux, privatized in 2019, will therefore step up its controls at its approximately 30,000 retailers and, for the first time, “punish” those “caught in the act” of selling gambling and gambling to minors, has announced his boss on Wednesday.
“This law is unfortunately not yet applied in our points of sale. Nor is it, from what I know, applied online,” commented Stéphane Pallez. This year “we are going to go up a notch and take financial sanctions” vis-à-vis tobacco shops or press points, FDJ approved retailers, who break the law, the CEO said on Wednesday. These sanctions consist of a suspension of approval, “which means suspending their turnover, suspending their commissions, for a period which can be more and more important”, she specified while presenting the annual results. of the FDJ.
Seven retailers have already been notified of a suspension of “a fortnight, financially significant”, indicated Stéphane Pallez, assuring: “This is a first, intended to show that we will go further and that we are determined to be extremely vigilant on this subject. “Some 2,000 checks must be carried out this year – twice as many as before, in “targeted” points of sale, “either already identified as posing a problem, or located in sensitive areas, close to schools or frequented by young people, ”said the boss of the FDJ. The company also plans to devote 10% of its purchases this year to the “fight once morest underage and excessive gambling”, an increase of 50%.