On the Spot -- Ladbrokes' televised ad campaign in the United Kingdom is already under investigation by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), British media reports say. Click here to read more.
Re-Launched -- Gibraltar-based operator Mansion has re-launched its sports book. Click here to read more.
Grabbing Headlines -- The arrest of Unibet CEO Petter Nylander has garnered attention from most major, English-language European news sources. Highlights are listed below.
The Financial Times reports that the French government has "distanced itself" from the event and appears "embarrassed by the arrest" as it prepares to "concede . . . it has discriminated illegally against online operators to protect its state monopolies."
Oliver Drewes, a spokesman for EU Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy, told the Agence France Presse Tuesday, "Someone has been arrested when he could well be innocent according to European law." Drewes also said that the European Commission maintained "good contacts with the French authorities and we are fairly confident we can resolve this question with France," and that "instructions have been given to stop the arrest procedures." At a press conference in Brussels, Drewes said that the commission was "not trying to harmonize, but we want to stop discrimination."
But according to Thomson Financial this afternoon, Brussels "washed its hands of Nylander's plight." Drewes reportedly said that the arrest is "not a matter for us (the European Commission) any more . . . [but is rather] a matter for the French and Dutch authorities to sort out."
Following Tuesday's more hard-line remarks, France's European Affairs Minister Jean-Pierre Jouyet seems to have relaxed his position a bit, telling reporters in Strasbourg today, "We are ready to find a new framework for gambling if conditions are respected. Those wanting a license would have to satisfy criteria on preventing addiction and money laundering."
Meanwhile, Swedish MEP Christofer Fjellner was critical of the type of warrant under which Nylander was arrested in today's edition of the FT. "A worrying fact is that the European arrest warrant, an instrument put in place to combat terrorism and organized crime, is now used by the French government to punish those who fight French protectionism," he said. "What will be the next sector to be threatened with French arrests? The French are turning the European arrest warrant into a political tool."
Finally, Ewout Keuleers, legal counsel for Unibet, called the conditions under which Nylander was kept in Schiphol airport " . . . nothing short of Guantanamo treatment."
Stock Watch -- In Stockholm, Unibet was down SEK 2.50, or 1.21 percent, to SEK 204.50. And in London, Playtech was up 5.50p to 349.50, Neteller was down 0.25p to 71 and Rank was down 0.75p to 99.75.