The state agency “PlayCity” fined the Ukrainian Football Association almost UAH 5.2 million for illegal advertising of online casinos during the Ukrainian Cup of the 2026/2027 season.
This was reported by the “PlayCity” press service.
According to the state agency, the advertisement was published on the UAFʼs Threads account, which is not included in the Register of Media Entities. It was also distributed on Instagram and YouTube pages, but there was no mandatory warning there that the materials were intended for people over the age of 21.
Also, according to “PlayCity”, UAF did not place a mandatory warning on advertising layouts about the risk of gaming addiction and the need to adhere to the principles of responsible gaming.
Gambling business in Ukraine
In 2023, Ukrainians spent almost 400 million hryvnias daily in online casinos, or over 12 billion per month. The military is most often hit by this industry, who then suffer from gambling addiction.
After the publication of these data, society began to actively discuss the problems with gambling, in particular among the military. On March 29, 2024, an electronic petition appeared on the website of the Office of President Volodymyr Zelensky to restrict the operation of online casinos during martial law in Ukraine. Within a few hours, the petition collected the 25 000 signatures necessary for its consideration by the president.
The author of the petition, a soldier of the 59th brigade and Hero of Ukraine (posthumously) Pavlo Petrichenko, claimed that there are frequent cases when gambling-addicted servicemen spend all their money on casinos and then take out microloans, driving themselves into a debt hole. They also pawn drones and thermal imagers, which harms not only them but also their fellow soldiers.
On April 20, 2024, President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree restricting the operation of online casinos.
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