SPAIN Law and Practice Contributed by: Joaquín Jofre Fernández-Abascal, Jofre Sports Law
Legislation Governing Betting The primary piece of legislation is Law 13/2011 of May 27th on the regulation of gambling: • at a national level, the DGOJ, under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, regulates online betting and state-wide lotteries; • at a regional level, the 17 autonomous communi - ties regulate land-based betting shops, casinos and bingo halls; and • regarding licensing, operators must hold both a general licence and a singular licence for specific activities (eg, fixed-odds sports-betting). Operating without these is a very serious infringement, often resulting in multimillion-euro fines. Betting-Related Offences for Relevant Individuals Under Article 6 of Law 13/2011, there is a strict sub - jective prohibition on gambling for certain individuals, to ensure integrity. It is illegal for the following people to place bets on events in which they participate: • athletes, coaches and referees; • managers and directors of the participating sports clubs; and • personnel of the organising entities (eg, league employees). Consequences include the following: • administrative – fines and temporary or permanent loss of their sports licence; and • criminal – if the betting is linked to match-fixing, it falls under Article 286 bis of the Penal Code (Sports Corruption), punishable by up to four years in prison. Information Sharing and Integrity Systems Spain uses a sophisticated co-operative network to monitor markets and share data between betting operators and sports bodies. • SIGMA (Service for the Investigation of the Betting Market): launched and fully integrated by the DGOJ in 2024–2025, SIGMA is a centralised database. All licensed betting operators are mandated by law to report irregular or suspicious betting patterns immediately to this service.
• Stakeholders: information is shared in real time between the DGOJ, National Police, Guardia Civil and sports bodies such as LaLiga and the RFEF. • LaLiga’s TYCHE tool: a proprietary software used by LaLiga to monitor global betting markets for Spanish matches. If TYCHE detects an anomaly (eg, a sudden surge of bets on a specific corner kick in a low-stakes game), LaLiga reports it to the police via the SIGMA network. This involved a champion runner who bet EUR2,000 on a teammate to win at the European Athletics Cham - pionships, and was uncovered after she posted about the win on social media. The sanction was six months suspension and a EUR3,000 fine (AIU). Janssen and Richter (2025) Recent Noteworthy Cases Aurore Fleury (2024–25) This involved two track athletes who placed small bets (EUR40 to EUR100) on teammates at the World Championships in Tokyo. The sanction was a three- month suspension (reduced due to confession). 1.4 Disciplinary Framework In Spain, disciplinary proceedings against athletes fol - low a structured administrative path governed by the Sports Law (Law 39/2022) and, specifically for dop - ing, Organic Law 11/2021. These proceedings are designed to ensure due process while maintaining the integrity of competition. The Disciplinary Process: Step-by-Step Whether for doping, match-fixing or betting, the pro - cess generally adheres to the following hierarchy. Investigation and opening of the file • Trigger: a positive drug test, a report from a whis - tle-blower (via LaLiga or RFEF portals), or suspi - cious betting alerts from the SIGMA network. • Notification: the athlete is formally notified that a disciplinary file has been opened. In doping cases, a provisional suspension is usually mandatory from this point. Instruction phase • Evidence gathering: an instructor (appointed by the federation or CELAD) gathers evidence. For
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