Online betting surges in Algeria as global platforms target football fans despite gambling ban

Algerian youth are shifting from casual betting to working as agents for offshore gambling platforms that target fans of European football leagues.

In a small apartment in Bordj El Kiffan, east of Algiers, the glow of a phone screen, filled with numbers and dense statistics, reflected off Karim’s tired eyes as he followed a Spanish league match. The 20-something, who asked to be identified only by his first name, highlighting the legal risks he faced, had placed a €50 ($59) bet on 1Xbet after bypassing the government ban with a VPN. What began as casual entertainment soon became an addiction that wiped out his savings. A single early win of €1,000 ($1,175) drew him deeper into gambling, and he later lost €1,750 ($2,056) in one day. He tried to curb his addiction before it led to a complete collapse. 

Karim is one of many Algerians turning to online betting sites. Our Arabic-language sister publication Al Araby Al Jadeed interviewed four others; three acknowledged being addicted, while Melissa, an unemployed university graduate, said she deleted a gambling app after losing 2,000 dinars ($16) on her first attempt.

Although betting platforms refuse to disclose user numbers or financial flows, data from Semrush, a US-based web analytics company, show sharp growth in Algeria. In September 2025, betting sites recorded 2.13 million visits. 1Xbet.com and download1xbet.com (the website that redirects users to the company's downloadable mobile app) led with an aggregated value of 673,620 visits - respectively up 50.99% and 9.65% month-on-month, and 80.33% and 451% year-on-year. Stake.com was second with 348,290 visits, down 30.2% month-on-month but up 94% compared with September 2024. Arabcasinohex.com ranked third with 238,000 visits, rising 310% from the previous month and 33,427% year-on-year, reflecting its launch in Algeria in November 2024.

Football as a gateway

Football betting remains the most popular entry point. Platforms reinforce this by partnering with major European clubs: 1Xbet sponsors Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain, and partners with the Confederation of African Football. Users, like Karim, typically wager €50–€100 ($59-118) on international matches. 

Karim explained that betting on a favoured team reduces potential profits, while choosing their opponent can multiply winnings up to four times. Even small details, such as goal timing, the number of cards, and corners, are factored into the payout.

But the risks extend beyond individual losses. 1Xbet’s terms give the company sweeping control over user funds. Deposits are accepted through cards, digital wallets, and cryptocurrency without adhering to national laws, while withdrawals are executed with no third-party oversight. The platform shields itself from any responsibility, acknowledging on its Algeria-focused website (dz.1xbet.com) that users must bypass the block with a VPN at their own risk.

Creating an account takes seconds. The authors of this investigation registered using only a name, phone number, and email, immediately receiving promotional messages offering bonuses up to 46,500 dinars ($360), more than double Algeria’s minimum wage. Messages in Algerian colloquial Arabic encouraged depositing funds for quick profits. These campaigns target a country where unemployment reached 12.7% in 2024, rising to 25.4% among women and 29.3% among youth aged 15–24, according to World Bank data published on 25 April 2025.

Growing network of agents

Despite warnings on its "responsible gaming" page about gambling-linked depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts, 1Xbet complicates account closure, burying the option deep inside its menus.

"It's similar to how tobacco companies behave," said psychology professor Linda Boudenar of Mouloud Mammeri University. She warned that gambling can quickly become a compulsive escape from unemployment and frustration, often leading to debt, family strain, and social harm.

Although betting is more regulated in Western countries than in Algeria or other middle-to-low-income nations, experts are calling to shift the approach from individual-focused "responsible gambling" to public health policies that place further restrictions on betting companies.

As for 1Xbet in the UK, the company saw its licence revoked in 2019, when a Sunday Times investigation found it had accepted bets on children sport games and cockfighting, in addition to promoting a "pornhub" casino. 

1Xbet did not answer Al Araby Al Jadeed’s questions about its operations in Algeria, its user numbers, the legal framework, and the methods used to transfer funds. Yet its Algeria-focused homepage invites users to "contact us on Telegram if you want to work with us as an official agent." When contacted, the company responded within 24 hours. Anyone over 18 with $50 can become an agent, earning 5% on deposits, 2% on withdrawals and a 25% commission for every new user they recruit. Applicants must submit ID photos, a selfie holding the ID, and location details. As a result, the bettor becomes a part of a marketing network linked to unregulated financial transactions.

Ahmed Bajji, a pseudonym requested due to legal risks, is among these agents. He said he began betting in early 2024 and became an agent in 2025 after recruiting dozens of users. He manages accounts for clients without bank cards or even basic literacy, receiving earnings in foreign currency before distributing payouts in Algerian dinars.

Shadow economy

Agents operate entirely outside the formal banking system to bypass restrictions on foreign currency transfers. Money moves through cash or local payment services such as Baridi Mob, the state-run postal company’s mobile payment service, while deposits are funded through digital wallets sold at parallel-market exchange rates. When users win, they collect dinars from intermediaries, while the real value is held abroad until agents retrieve it through personal contacts, according to Bajji. 

Prepaid digital gift cards are also circulating locally to bypass restrictions, lawyer Fadi Tamim of the Algerian Consumer Protection Organisation told Al Araby Al Jadeed.

These channels are like a "shadow economy", fuelling demand for foreign currency and creating an unregulated financial system, confirmed Slimane Nasser, banking researcher and economist at Kasdi Merbah University.

This persists despite Article 165 of Algeria’s 2015 penal code, which provides for prison sentences of three months to one year, as well as fines, for operating gambling venues or currency-exchange services without a licence.

MP Slimane Zerguini has formally asked the minister of post and telecommunications, Sid Ali Zerrouki, “to detail the government’s response to these platforms, citing legal violations and social harm. Legally, due to violations of the anti–money laundering law, and socially, because of their negative impact on youth". Zerguini asked the minister whether the government has a plan to pursue platform promoters, particularly content creators who have openly engaged in this activity. He said foreign-based sites exercise "external control over Algerian youth and their finances".

The ministry’s written reply, obtained by Al Araby Al Jadeed, was unconvincing to MP Zerguini. His inquiry specifically concerned gambling platforms, but the ministry avoided naming them, grouping them under "undesirable websites". The response cited government strategies and programmes to protect the public from unsafe internet use, raise youth awareness, and direct them to youth centres and educational activities. It also mentioned a campaign targeting children launched in February 2025 but made no reference to legal measures to block the platforms.

The Algerian government's response to MP Slimane Zerguini

The Algerian government's response to MP Slimane Zerguini (1/4)

The Algerian government's response to MP Slimane Zerguini (2/4)

The Algerian government's response to MP Slimane Zerguini (3/4)

The Algerian government's response to MP Slimane Zerguini (4/4)

Zerguini described the response as “indifference toward a threat to families and society”, warning that the phenomenon is growing and will carry serious social consequences. Economically, despite a lack of precise data on spending, "the platforms are foreign, meaning most funds leave the country, draining foreign currency, weakening the dinar, and opening the door to money laundering and illegal transfers," he said. 

Zerguini vowed to continue pushing for stronger action, including penalties for VPN use and the prosecution of unlicensed agents. Public awareness, he added, is also needed, noting a 2024 boycott campaign that forced a prominent influencer (Seid Ahmed) to apologise for promoting betting apps. But, in his view, community pressure is not enough without firm government regulation to prevent more Algerian youth from being drawn into these platforms.

Disclaimer: This investigation is republished from our Arabic sister website, Al Araby Al Jadeed, and mirrors the source's original editorial guidelines and reporting policies.

The original investigation was published in Arabic on 23 November 2023.

Translated by Afrah Almatwari and edited by The New Arab investigative desk.

Comments and questions should be addressed to Head of Investigations Mohamed Azzam: mohamed.azzam@alaraby.co.uk.