Logo a No-Go -- German authorities are demanding that visiting football team AC Milan remove the bwin logo from its shirts when it faces Bayern Munich at the Munich Olympic Stadium on April 11, reports GamblingCompliance.com. German state laws prohibiting the advertising of foreign betting companies may prevent AC Milan from carrying the logo of their main sponsor, Austria-based bookmaker bwin, on their shirts when they visit the city. bwin has seen problems similar to this before. The bookmaker took over as the main sponsor of Bundesliga team Werder Bremen last summer but court action has prevented Bremen from wearing its bwin shirts in domestic games. A similar legal situation also led bwin to cancel its sponsorship deal with second division team 1860 Munich. Then in September 2006, the company's co-CEOs, Manfred Bodner and Norbert Teufelberger, were arrested in France while unveiling a sponsorship deal with French team AS Monaco.
Maybe Touchable -- Reports that fugitive Norman Steinberg, one of 11 individuals named in the June 2006 federal indictment against online sports book BetonSports (BoS), is untouchable because Costa Rican extradition laws protect citizens from being extradited to the United States, are not entirely accurate. While Steinberg's Costa Rican citizenship, established via marriage and residence, makes extradition much more difficult, a source close to the case pointed out that according to the extradition treaty, a wanted criminal is only safe if the alleged crime is not a crime in Costa Rica. In other words, operating an online gambling business is not a crime in Costa Rica, but other crimes with which he could be charged (money laundering, etc.) are.
Becoming 'Non' -- Online payment processor Neteller today announced that Executive Director Dale Johnson has stepped down from his position to become a non-executive director. Johnson was most recently president of Neteller's Asian Pacific operations, which are now overseen by Joyce Wong, vice president and general manager for the region.
Relaxation -- Mobile casino games developer Cecure Gaming said today that it is looking for advertising agencies in anticipation of the relaxed gambling advertising rules in the United Kingdom. Cecure Gaming Vice President of Marketing Brian Dally said the brand will target women, following company research that showed mobile gaming is most popular among women.