To help the emerging Internet industry in France compete with cyber-casinos across the rest of the EU, French Parliament considers the legalization of online gambling. Eric Woerth, France's Minister for Budget, defends the idea of a sports betting right to "preserve the integrity of sports". But according to Maarten Haijer, EGBA Director for Regulatory Affairs, "The EGBA is opposed to what would be a precedent in Europe: there is no link between a sportsbetting right and the integrity of sport."

Haijer states clearly that "It makes no sense to create a local Internet market in France. We welcome the Commission's action and are confident that France will reconsider its proposal to avoid litigation."

The proposed commercial contract between the sport federations and the operators would allegedly allow the federations to control the bets. The sports federations would then be the promoter, the regulator and the judge of their own sport, which could create serious conflict of interest.

Betting and sports are cross-border activities, and so is the issue of integrity. According to the European Court of Justice and the European Commission, sports federations cannot claim propriety of rights such as fixture lists and data, as this is information in the public domain that can be accessed freely by journalists and travel agencies alike.

To create increased revenue for sport federations, more tax revenues should be allocated to fund all sports rather than introducing a right that could only benefit the commercially most attractive sports federations. However, if the integrity of sports is really the issue, effective measures should be endorsed, and corruption has to be addressed from all angles.