Belgium’s Gaming Commission has opened an investigation into Eden Hazard after the former Chelsea and Real Madrid forward became a global ambassador for Stake. The issue is whether Hazard’s social media posts amounted to gambling advertising aimed at people in Belgium, where Stake does not hold a local license and is treated as an illegal operator.
Hazard’s reach is part of the problem. His Instagram account shows about 27 million followers, and his profile now says the service is unavailable in Belgium and Spain. Even so, the regulator is assessing whether the campaign still encouraged Belgian users to engage with the brand.
The investigation turns on whether the campaign was effectively aimed at users in Belgium
The commission has said it is examining whether the advertising was targeted at the Belgian market. If it concludes that it was, the case could move beyond scrutiny into a formal notice requiring Hazard to stop the promotion, with sanctions or legal action possible if that order is ignored.
That focus fits Belgium’s legal approach. Gambling is prohibited unless it is expressly authorized by the Gaming Commission, and advertising illegal games of chance is also prohibited. Belgian legal guidance on the current rules also notes that displaying a gambling brand name or logo can itself count as advertising.
Stake’s unlicensed status leaves almost no room for social media promotion inside Belgium
The commercial relationship matters less than Stake’s regulatory position. The operator does not have a valid Belgian license, and the regulator’s blacklist of illegal gambling sites includes Stake-branded domains. That leaves little room for a public endorsement if Belgian consumers are part of the intended audience.
For Belgium, this is also an enforcement test around offshore brand visibility. The country has spent the past three years narrowing how gambling can be marketed, and an influencer-style campaign linked to a former national team captain goes directly to the question of whether those restrictions still hold when the message is delivered through a global personal account rather than a business account.
Belgium’s phased ad clampdown has made celebrity gambling tie-ups much riskier
Belgium began banning gambling advertising across television, radio, print, public spaces, websites, and social media from July 1, 2023. A further ban on stadium advertising took effect on January 1, 2025, and professional sports club sponsorships are due to end from January 1, 2028.
That is why the Hazard case matters beyond one ambassador deal. The immediate question is whether the regulator orders the campaign to stop, but the broader signal is that Belgium remains willing to test its advertising rules against globally recognized football figures when an unlicensed operator is involved.
