Andrè Villa, a young free-style FMX pro, internationally recognized as one of the top 5 MX riders in the world, is facing legal charges in Norway for having published an image on his Instagram account sponsored by an online casino.
Andrè, who’s originally from Norway, nowadays lives in Alicante, Spain, where he runs one of the largest FMX parks in Europe.
Recently he published an image on his Instagram account featuring an advert he made for Mobilbet, an online casino. Somehow this tiny incident, which is totally acceptable in Spain where online gambling is a legal activity, is seen as ‘illegal’ back in his native Norway, where he’s facing legal charges with the local gaming board.
Andrè who?
In case you’re not familiar with the MX world, Andrè is considered one of the best MX riders, having won multiple FMX competitions in his native Norway and all around the world. He even won an award as ‘Man of the Month’ for Cosmopolitan magazine. The fact is that motocross simply runs through his veins.
He got his first dirt bike at the age of 4, and learned how to ride one even before he could ride a standard bicycle. His father, grandfather and great-grandfather were also motocross riders themselves. His father won many medals in the Norwegian Championship and still races in the Scandinavian Championship.
After a rough start, and winning multiple awards (as well as many injuries), Andrè took a break from the motocross world; but, as old habits die hard, he came back into the spotlight in 2003 and became Norway’s best FMX pro.
Now Andrè is once again back under the spotlight, but unfortunately not because of his awards.
Even though he’s legally registered in Spain, the Norwegian gaming board can still penalize him for promoting an online casino that targets Norwegian punters, simply because Norway doesn’t want to recognize online legal activities from other countries (including those in the EU), and that includes publicity on social media.
Nevertheless, he is living in Spain and he hasn’t broken any laws there.
It’s also worth mentioning that the reaction from the Norwegian gaming board, meant to prevent marketing activities by unregulated operators in Norway, has just led to more advertisement for the mobile gaming company sponsoring him.
