It is essential that licensed lottery operators deliver high standards of responsible gambling to ensure that gambling regulators and stakeholders in society have confidence that the industry is committed to preventing gambling harm. This is especially important as we need to show that responsible, legal, licensed lotteries as well as betting on racing and other sports are a positive means of combatting the higher risk gambling pushed to consumers by illegal gambling operators. To build consistent standards of responsible gambling across the industry, a platform of committed operators is necessary.
The World Lottery Association (WLA) is an international member-based association of state-controlled lotteries, licensed sports betting operators, and suppliers to the global gaming and sports betting industry.
We aim to be recognized as the leading standard-setting organization for global lotteries and betting game operators. As such, we strive to progress our international community, by providing value to our member base of over 150 lotteries and sports betting operators, through key products, services and sharing of knowledge.
We assist our members in achieving their goals of creating positive societal impact through the support of good causes, while upholding integrity and responsible gaming and security standards, as well as addressing key issues that impact our industry.
The four pillars of our work are covered by our:
- Betting Integrity on Sports and Horse Racing Committee (BISHRC)
- Combating Illegal Lotteries and Betting Committee (CILBC)
- Corporate Social Responsibility Committee (CSRC)
- Security and Risk Management Committee (SRMC)
Committed to the highest standards of integrity
The Council of Europe, Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions, aka The Macolin Convention, was developed to address growing illegal sports betting and manipulation of results, which had seriously damaged the image of sport in a number of countries. It called for the development and implementation of mechanisms to reduce the risk of match fixing, illegal sports betting or other illicit activities.
The WLA was instrumental in drafting the initial version of The Macolin Convention, and is aligned with its definition of legal and illegal gaming, which is embedded in our Code of Conduct from 1999. We have also developed The Macolin Convention – Best Practice Guide.
Over the last decade, a number of factors have contributed to a boom in online gaming and sports betting for both regulated and illegal betting markets, including the global pandemic, rapid digitalization, innovative technologies and solutions, improved connectivity, increased use of mobile devices, and the growing legalization of sports betting in different jurisdictions.
In response to this growing online betting market, the WLA has an established strong commitment to protecting integrity in sports through its contribution to the Macolin Convention as well as the United Lotteries for Integrity in Sports (ULIS) platform to identify suspected competition manipulation. In addition to protecting integrity in sports, the WLA is also committed to minimizing gambling harm risk as online betting markets grow.
Committed to the highest standards of responsible gambling
The regulated gaming and sports betting industry relies on public trust and must ensure that player environments are secure, safe and offer responsible gaming.
The issues of ensuring Responsible Gaming, fighting illegal gaming and sports betting operators, and maintaining sports integrity by combating match fixing, are interrelated and must all be addressed.
Unlicensed operators jeopardize the reputation of the regulated lottery and sports betting industry – which prioritizes player safety – by:
- Not deploying player safety measures in their gaming environments. This allows more funds to be used to develop exciting offers that may entice players away from legal betting sites and give unlicensed operators an unfair advantage over regulated operators.
- Not paying taxes. This contravenes the essence of the lotteries, which is to raise money for good causes, and benefit individuals, communities and societies around the world.
- Accepting online payments using cryptocurrencies. Together with the absence of know your customer (KYC) processes, customers may play anonymously, and potentially launder funds gained from illicit activities. Such operations may be transnational and difficult for authorities to detect, trace and stop.
Players may not even realize that they are on an illegal gaming or sports betting site, which might advertise larger payouts, that ultimately are not honored. Thus, together with the work and support of our Committees, WLA members must remain vigilant and alert the relevant authorities and their customers to any illegal operations within their jurisdictions.
WLA Responsible Gaming certification
The WLA CSR Committee (CSRC) carries out Responsible Gaming (RG) work, which is at the core of our CSR activities, and sets our members apart from illegal gaming and betting operators.
Our members are united in their commitment to foster the continuity of public order and the fight against illegal gambling as defined by governments in their jurisdictions.
This commitment provides the background for the WLA Responsible Gaming Principles. Using the WLA By-laws as a reference, the RG Principles were established to develop a comprehensive set of standards related to social responsibility.
In pledging their support for these principles, our members commit to making RG an integral part of daily operations, including activities involving employees, patrons, retailers and other stakeholders.
The RG Framework (RGF) comprises four levels of certification, to which members must adhere. Once achieved, they can demonstrate that they follow industry best practices, to ensure responsible gaming environments and offers for all players.
In 2024, the WLA adopted a new By-law, stating that new members must obtain at least Level 2 RG certification within 18 months of joining, and existing members must achieve the same before May 2026. We also require all members to use the Platform for level 3 and 4 RG certification submissions.
In line with this, we have increased the development of tools and resources to help our members with their CSR and RG certification work. This has resulted in the growth of membership certification to Levels 2, 3 and 4, from 65% in 2022 to 84% in 2025.
In order to facilitate certification, the WLA has partnered with DigitalRG.com to provide members with the DigitalRG Platform, which simplifies the RG certification process that can be carried out entirely on the Platform.
Much thought was given to improving the process through the development of the Platform’s features, such as:
- Applicant’s certification history is saved.
- Easy-to-use dashboard and instructions to complete the entire application.
- Ability to upload all related documentation in different formats.
- Automatic translation of the application into English.
- Posting of assessment results, and notification of the next certification date.
The WLA offers members undergoing the different levels of certification financial support, including:
- Payment of fee for lotteries undergoing level 2 certification for the first time on the DigitalRG.com platform.
- Payment of the annual license cost for use of the Platform by level 3 and 4 RG certification applicants.
- Payment of a perpetual license for the Independent Assessment Panel (IAP) to use of the platform to evaluate submissions.
The WLA works hard to keep members updated on the latest developments and industry trends that impact our members, and to provide them with useful tools, materials and learning opportunities to achieve their goals of raising funds for good causes in a responsible, safe manner and to benefit society.
We organize webinars and seminars, also with partners, such as DigitalRG.com, and our Regional Association partners that provide trainings, answer questions and allow certified lotteries to share their experiences, exchange best practices and importantly learn from one another.
The CSRC has also established a buddy program, to help new certification applicants navigate the process. Lotteries that have achieved certification are paired up with others that are beginning the journey, in the same region, to share their experiences and provide guidance.
In 2025, a newly dedicated CSR & RG knowledge and resource area, was launched on the WLA publications website. It contains the RGF standard and related documents, best practice guides, news, case studies and research.
It also features a Q&A platform, which allows members to submit their Responsible Gaming questions to our network of CSR experts for answering. All members will benefit from the Q & A, which will remain displayed and be a useful reference and responsible gaming resource.
Project RED initiative
Project RED stands for – Responsible, Ethical and Dynamic. This initiative is part of the WLA Strategic plan and was launched in collaboration with European Lotteries (EL), Asia Pacific Lottery Association (APLA), African Association of Lotteries (ALA), and Ibero-American Corporation of State Lotteries and Gambling (CIBELAE).
The aim is to enable lotteries to:
- Learn from others to improve their own practices.
- Connect with peers to exchange directly and understand trends.
- See benchmarking data to help make a case for improvement.
As part of Project RED, members gain access to a directory, case studies, and data for benchmarking. The Case Studies feature provides examples of practices collected from various lotteries through questionnaires. These case studies are a way for members to share information about their responsible gaming and environmental practices. In the future, the project plans to give awards to the best case studies, and provide rankings for lotteries that wish to benchmark themselves using this information.
To date, over 50 WLA lottery members have responded to the survey across 35 countries, creating a valuable global database of current practices.
Enhancing consumer protection with technology
As online gaming and sports betting continue to grow, the regulated lottery and sports betting industry embraces technologies to enhance the security and safety of products and services, as well as the overall player experience.
Our events follow evolving technologies and allow our members to exchange experiences and learn what new RG and other measures are being deployed by their peers and industry suppliers around the world. These events cover artificial intelligence for marketing, RG, security, and general business operations.
Our Platinum (BrightStar, Intralot, Pollard Banknote, and Scientific Games) and Gold Contributors (Aristocrat, Carmanah Signs, Jumbo Interactive Ltd, and OpenBet), develop innovative solutions, using artificial intelligence technologies, that assist our members in delivering safe gaming environments.
Additionally, some of our members develop their own AI-based solutions, for instance, in Finland, Veikkaus has integrated its AI system into the cloud. It uses player data to establish a gambling risk score for all players, who must set a gambling limit. This information makes it possible to help those who may be at risk of gambling addiction.
Singapore Pools has created a Nudge Model program that promotes responsible gaming by using player data gathered through its online gaming portal, which applies AI techniques to player analytics to generate insights into player behavior. If players deviate from their normal gaming behavior, these insights are fed back to them as a series of prompts that ‘nudge’ them into adopting good habits of responsible play.
In Uruguay, LaBanca has been using behavior monitoring software, based on preventive algorithms that raise awareness of potential issues, by sending alerts and recommendation messages to players. This way, they know how much time they have spent online, and the amount of money lost.
Looking ahead
Our work to assist our members in offering responsible gaming environments to their players is ongoing. It includes following and informing on the latest trends and technologies that continually impact and reshape our industry. We also use member feedback to develop effective, timely products, and services, as well as create opportunities to share experiences, intelligence and knowledge, though events and projects with different partners.
We remain committed to our members, and to positively advancing the global regulated lottery and sports betting community in order to better protect consumers. Lessening gambling harm by improving the understanding of risk to consumers is an essential part of the responsibility of legal, licensed operators, which the WLA will continue to champion.
