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FEJAR hails lasting impact of ICE Barcelona Sustainable Gambling Zone donation

| By iGB content team
€20,000 award has helped FEJAR turn financial support into an international platform for regulators to share knowledge, compare approaches and collaborate on responsible gambling and player protection.

The €20,000 donation awarded to FEJAR at ICE Barcelona 2026 has delivered far more than financial support, helping to launch a landmark international responsible gambling initiative that its president, Gerardo Rodríguez, believes will generate lasting benefits for player protection across the Ibero-American region.

The funding, provided courtesy of contributions from 11 leading industry brands – Acordjoc, Betsson Group, BGaming, Cirsa, Flutter, Grupo Orenes, Merkur, Merkur Dosniha, Novomatic, Novomatic Spain and Zitro – enabled FEJAR to stage the inaugural Ibero-American Conference on Responsible Gambling.

Bringing together gambling regulators from Spain, Chile, Colombia, Puerto Rico, Brazil and Portugal, the conference provided a platform for regulators to exchange knowledge, compare strategies, share challenges and identify best practice. Rodríguez believes the conference has established FEJAR as a key forum for responsible gambling expertise across the Ibero-American community and demonstrated the value of international cooperation in addressing gambling-related harm.

Reflecting on the broader significance of the donation, Gerardo Rodríguez said: “Its impact goes far beyond the funding itself. The fact that the Sustainable Gambling Zone decided to support our work sends a positive signal about the importance of investing in knowledge, prevention and dialogue.

“We believe that initiatives such as the Sustainable Gambling Zone and the ICE Research Institute are positive indications of a growing willingness to promote research, generate evidence and encourage discussion on issues that are critical to the future of the sector.

“Investment in knowledge is essential if we are to better understand risks, evaluate existing measures and identify new approaches to prevention and protection. From our perspective, any effort that supports independent research, rigorous analysis and collaboration among different stakeholders should be welcomed. It also reflects a growing awareness that the sustainability of the gambling sector must be built on shared responsibility and a commitment to those who experience gambling-related problems.”

ICE 2027 will take place at the Fira Barcelona Grand Via on 18-20 January, 2027.