Monday, October 02, 2006

Ligue 1 club Toulouse protested against a French ban on advertising for
gambling by wearing the slogan ".com, censored" on their shirts during a
game at Olympique Marseille on Sunday. It replaced the name of Toulouse's
shirt sponsors, online casino and poker firm 888.com. The French
Professional Football League (LFP) on Friday banned its clubs from
advertising any form of gambling and online betting. On Saturday, Monaco
were forced to remove advertising boards for online betting firm bwin.com
before the kickoff of their Ligue 1 match against Le Mans. An LFP official
told Monaco the boards around the pitch had to be removed or the match would
not start. "Monaco insist on the fact that the decision to remove all
advertising for bwin was imposed by the LFP as a condition for the match to
start," Monaco said in a statement. The club added that it contested the
decision by the LFP and might take legal action to fight it.

The LFP ban came after the two joint chief executives of Austrian online
betting firm bwin.com Interactive Entertainment were placed under
investigation earlier this month for alleged violation of French gaming
laws.

Gambling is a state monopoly in France and online betting firms are banned
from seeking clients on French territory.

Bwin are the shirt sponsors of Monaco and have sponsorship deals with
several other Ligue 1 clubs, including Le Mans, and other leading European
sides.