(AsiaGameHub) –   The French gambling regulator faces a clear enforcement impasse ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Bookmakers are lining up to cash in on record expected fan engagement across TV and digital platforms. Rates of excessive gambling are already rising, and younger consumers plan to spend far more on bets than in 2022. No existing system can catch high-risk behaviour before it spirals into lasting financial harm for bettors.

Outgoing ANJ President Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin leaves office June 15 after a six-year mandate.

Her final actions include reviewing 18 licensed sportsbooks’ World Cup ad plans for compliance, and issuing a formal warning to the entire industry. She also launched the Zone à Risques (Risk Zones) public awareness campaign, created by agency LIBRE.

The campaign repurposes standard gambling ad yellow warning banners to highlight loss-chasing cycles. 30% of French bettors say they will spend more this World Cup, up from 19% in 2022. Total wagers could hit €1.2bn, beating 2022’s €900m record if France advances far in the tournament. Incoming chief Pascal Chevremont, a senior ENA graduate and Treasury official, will be formally ratified later this month. He inherits plans for a behavioural algorithm to track excessive gambling patterns across all operators, set for full deployment by end of 2026.

Operators will test the limits of current ad rules during the World Cup, knowing the new monitoring system is not yet active. Any violations flagged during the tournament will be held against operators when the algorithm launches. The 2026 World Cup results will directly shape how strict enforcement becomes for the rest of the decade. France will operate one of Europe’s most advanced gambling harm monitoring frameworks by the end of next year.