Chelsea legend in potential hot water over Belgian gambling rules

Eden Hazard was known as a carefree entertainer on the pitch, and a fun-lover off it too. But a carefree attitude can get you into trouble, as Hazard may be about to find out. There’s been a bit of a scandal (something the beloved Blues attacker is not used to) in his native Belgium recently because of a gambling sponsorship he’s involved with.

The context is the change in Belgian laws by royal decree in 2023. Influencers who promote anything which isn’t available to minors must “age gate” their promotion. Hazard’s social media posts promoting online gambling site Stake don’t do this. And while his followers are all over the world, many of them are in his home country.

This is of course unfair on local gambling platforms – a Belgian site like Madison Casino has the correct B+3320 license and follows all the rules (meaning they can’t advertise at all), while Stake and others don’t have a Belgian license at all. It’s not a level playing field if the rules aren’t enforced.

Former Lille man Hazard is now the subject of an investigation by the Belgian Gaming Commission after he became a global ambassador for Stake, whose push on social media across the board has been very visible as they sign up a number of former players and influencers to add a watermark to their content, or do other stunts to draw attention to the brand.

The question investigated is whether the retired Belgium international’s posts to his 27m followers target Belgian consumers specifically.

There’s no implication that Hazard has done anything wrong, but he may have been badly advised to get involved with something which may be found to have broken Belgian gaming rules. The investigation is still ongoing. Meanwhile, the Blues favourite has been back at his old club.

Chelsea’s social media pages were full of content after the win over Manchester United a fortnight ago showing a meetup of two total fan favourites.

Legend Hazard was back at Stamford Bridge, speaking animatedly pitchside to his heir as the club’s current great entertainer, Cole Palmer.

Much like Hazard, Palmer is known for his carefree and laid back attitude, both off the pitch and on it. Watch any social media clip with Hazard’s old teammates and coaches and the stories are always the same – ‘we can’t believe how good he was given how little effort he put into training’ more or less, and how little time he spent worrying about his game or the opposition. You hear very similar things about Palmer.

That was all part of their magic and the appeal that makes them such fan favourites. In a world of super athletes and marginal gains and red light therapy, they’re all natural. Just a genius with the ball.

Let’s hope that Eden was able to pass on some advice to his successor. Palmer has yet to reach the heights of his first year at Stamford Bridge, and there are legitimate worries we won’t see him at that level ever again at this point. Hazard had his own tough spells, and can hopefully give good advice.