Belarus is making tentative steps toward modernizing its gaming regulatory scheme, including legalizing online gambling, although we’ve heard this talk before.

Last week, Belarusian state-run media outlet BelTA reported that Sergei Nalivaiko, head of the government’s Ministry of Taxes and Levies, had drafted legislation that would address a number of gaming-related issues, including a proposal to raise the legal gambling age from 18 to 21 years.

The draft legislation also includes a proposal to license and tax online gambling operators, although that’s about the extent of the details that have been made public. Nalivaiko did mention a two-year transitional period from the decree entering into force, during which online gambling operators can operate with special permits while they adjust their operations to conform with the decree’s (as yet unknown) specifics.

Nalivaiko’s ministry floated a plan last September to allow local operators to offer online casino games in addition to online wagering, while also seeking to block access to internationally licensed online gambling sites who fail to acquire local licenses. That proposal would have required international operators to base their servers on Belarusian soil.

A Colombian tennis star has been suspended by his sport’s integrity body for promoting a local online betting site on social media.

In February, Colombia doubles tennis player Robert Farah found himself in hot water after he used his official Twitter account to post a photo of himself riding a gym exercise bike while holding his mobile, on which locally licensed online betting operator BetPlay’s app was prominently featured.

Farah quickly deleted the photo, to which he’d added the phrase “I already bet, you too,” after tennis officials pointed out the potential fallout of a sports star actively promoting betting on a sport that leads all others in terms of suspected match-fixing incidents.

But the damage was done, and the sport’s Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) opened an investigation. On Friday, the TIU announced that Farah had been found guilty of breaching the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program, for which he has been banned from tennis play for three months and fined US$5k.

Italy’s online gambling market was firing on (nearly) all cylinders in June, although serious doubts exist about the market’s future as new advertising curbs loom.

Figures compiled by Italian gaming news agency Agimeg show locally licensed online sports betting operators reported revenue of €47.6m in June, a 38.3% improvement over the same month last year. Bet365 claimed a nearly 17% share of this pie, while SKS365 (13.7%) and Snaitech (10.7%) weren’t far behind.

Retail wagering revenue was also up more than one-third in June, rising 34.3% to €65.2m, with Snaitech claiming the lion’s share (18%), followed by Eurobet (14.5%) and Lottomatica (11.8%).

Online casino revenue was up nearly 30% year-on-year to €55.5m, with The Stars Group’s PokerStars brand in the lead with a 9.6% share, followed by Sisal (8.1%) and Lottomatica (7.9%). Tournament poker revenue nudged up 2.6% to €6.1m, while poker cash game revenue fell 5.3% to €4.8m.

Total revenue of Stockholm-listed online casino technology supplier NetEnt AB grew at a moderate pace of 5.9 percent in the second quarter of 2018 amid foreign exchange rate fluctuations.

NetEnt registered revenue of SEK437.2 million (US$49 million) during the April to June 2018 period versus SEK412.8 million ($46.3 million) a year ago. Gauging the data using the euros as currency, NetEnt’s revenue for the quarter declined by 0.8 percent.

NetEnt’s operating profit inched up 1.2 percent to SEK149 million ($16.7 million), representing a margin of 34.0 (35.6) percent. The company reported 10.8 billion game transactions in Q2, a 7 percent year-on-year increase.

NetEnt’s Q2 revenue growth rate was slower than its 9.4 percent increase in Q1 2018. The company attributed the slower growth “to the development of the Swedish krona in relation to other currencies,” particularly to euros and British pound.

Lawmakers in South Africa are considering the relocation of the country’s casinos to the newly established Trade Bay and eastern region, much to the disappointment of many local gambling operators.

IOL News reported gambling operators opposed the enactment of the Western Cape Nineteenth Gambling and Racing Amendment Bill, 2018, which they claimed would lead to slumping gambling revenues, falling profits, and job loss if implemented.

The bill was intended to amend the existing Western Cape Gambling and Racing Act, 1996 (Act 4 of 1996), giving the Western Cape government the authority to allow existing casinos in five district municipal regions of the province to transfer in other areas.

While the bill has yet to be tabled before the legislative committee, South Africa-based casino operators like Sun International and Tsogo Sun Holdings Ltd. have expressed mixed opinions over the possible impact of the proposed bill to their operations.