Germany-based bookmaker Interwetten, a partner of the DFB, has stopped offering betting markets for all amateur matches in the country.

The decision was taken after news last month that police in Germany confirmed they are investigating potential betting related match-fixing in 17 lower-league matches.

Matches being investigated were from Germany’s professional third division (3. Liga), semi-professional fourth tier (Regionalliga) and amateur fifth tier (Oberliga). Authorities said they are looking into suspicious refereeing decisions and unusual behaviour from goalkeepers and defenders.

As well as pulling betting markets from the men’s and women’s amateur game (both on their domestic and international platforms), Interwetten have tightened their betting registration rules.

German-based customers can no longer register for its international platform, and international gamblers cannot register on the German platform.

“We very much welcome this decision by Interwetten,” says Dr. Holger Blask, CEO of DFB GmbH & Co. KG.

“This shows the partner’s sense of responsibility. We are both convinced that a controlled sports betting market with licensed sports betting providers ensures proper game play and thus the integrity of sporting competition, as well as best taking player protection into account.”

Adidas has unveiled its first ever Predator football boot in collaboration with Jude Bellingham, Named ‘Belligold’, the England midifelder helped design the premium look and colourway, with the Adidas Preadator Elite x Jude Bellingham set to debut at Estadio de Balaídos as Real Madrid take on Celta Vigo at the weekend.

Along with the Predator unveiling, Adidas has also released a signature Gazelle trainer and another Bellingham Originals clothing collection. There’s a consistent theme throughout, as the 21-year-old continues to take world football by storm. What most will care about, though, is the stunning Predators…

Featuring the soon-to-be iconic ‘JB’ logo – Jude Bellingham’s initials, of course – on the fold-over tongue, the Adidas Predator Elite comes in a sleek black and gold colourway with subtle detailing and accents throughout.

Winning the Champions League and La Liga in his first season at Real Madrid is certainly the inspiration for that colourway, and is further emphasised by the catching gold outsole adorning the soleplate the boot. Bellingham’s La Liga Player of the Year award is just reason for the gold and black colourway, too.

The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) said it will enforce a ban on club sponsorship by bookmakers across all levels of Brazilian football starting last Friday (11 October).

Clubs and leagues have been instructed to end deals with operators lacking approval from the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets (SPA), following orders from the Ministry of Finance.

This move affects five Série A clubs, including Grêmio, Corinthians, Bahia, and Palmeiras, all of which are sponsored by Esportes da Sorte – the company challenging the SPA’s licensing process.

Athletico Paranaense has already suspended its sponsorship with the company, though other clubs maintain their partnerships.

The CBF’s decision aligns with Brazil’s broader effort to regulate betting through a new licensing regime, aimed at controlling the rapidly growing sports betting market in the country.

The SPA has issued 90 licenses but faced criticism from betting companies left out of the process, such as Esportes da Sorte, which only holds a state-level license from Rio de Janeiro, now invalid nationally due to a recent ruling.

Brazil has been plagued by allegations of betting related match-fixing with the unlicensed betting market impacting not only the sporting integrity of Brazilian football but also the country’s broader economic and legal framework.

However, betting sponsorships have quickly become a crucial revenue source for many clubs.

The lights-out approach adopted by Brazil’s regulators differs from that in Europe where regulators have generally given betting operators more time to comply with new regulations amid growing concerns of the need to increase consumer protections. In Brazil the issue has been that regulation has not been fast enough to keep up with the explosion of bookmakers in the market and the clubs’ financial ecosystems.