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On Tuesday, Nederlandse Loterij announced it had sent a cease-and-desist notice to companies and directors connected with Skyhills across several jurisdictions, including Costa Rica, North Macedonia, the United Kingdom, Curaçao, Malta and the Marshall Islands.
The operator confirmed the Skyhills platform is now inaccessible in the Netherlands following the directive.
Arjan Blok, CEO of Nederlandse Loterij, emphasised the importance of player protection in a statement this week.
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He said the Authority’s role was to protect the public while ensuring gambling benefited Botswana. Kemorwale added that it was working with police against illegal promoters who make misleading promises of wealth, and that its approach to licensed operators emphasised guidance and compliance alongside enforcement.
The dispute over the legal gambling age comes as the Gambling Authority steps up its warnings about illegal online betting.
Speaking at the 2026 South East Region Staff Excellence Awards in Gaborone, Kemorwale said unlicensed platforms were diverting an estimated P850m ($63.2 million) from Botswana’s economy each year and exposing children and teenagers to unregulated gambling.
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In recent weeks, German authorities conducted a crackdown on an alleged illegal online gambling operation suspected of facilitating wagers totalling approximately €5.86 billion over a 30-month period.
The DSWV trade body, representing licensed sports-betting operators, broadly welcomed the enforcement action as a necessary response to the illegal market’s growth and associated risks.
“This successful investigation clearly demonstrates the scale that the illegal gambling market has now reached,” said Mathias Dahms, president of the DSWV.
