AIEJA says authorities, mental health specialists, schools, families, civil society and private companies all need a seat at the table
Mexico’s gaming industry association, AIEJA, has set out a four-pillar framework for responsible gambling, arguing that regulation, prevention, education and technology should anchor the national debate, and that betting should remain a leisure activity with defined limits.
The statement lands as the association tries to move the conversation from enforcement against illegal operators toward what a mature, licensed market would need to look like.
AIEJA says authorities, mental health specialists, schools, families, civil society and private companies all need a seat at the table. Its sharpest demand is a categorical ban on minors’ access to online gambling across the country, paired with stronger oversight aimed at protecting vulnerable groups, a response to what it describes as the constant exposure of young people to platforms that allow betting at any hour and from anywhere.
On the technology side, the association points to tools that licensed operators can deploy now: stronger age verification, time and deposit limits, accessible self-exclusion registers and algorithms that flag risky play patterns early. It also credits several operators for publishing practical self-control guides, built around four basic rules: set a fixed budget that excludes money needed for essentials or borrowed funds, schedule breaks, avoid chasing losses and seek professional help early when personal or financial wellbeing is at risk. For companies, AIEJA’s list of duties includes barring minors, training staff, being transparent about risks and offering direct channels to specialist assistance.
The statement fits a pattern in AIEJA’s recent positioning. Earlier this year the association warned that illegal gambling was expanding ahead of the World Cup and affecting licensed businesses, and it has also flagged that more than half of Mexican operators have faced deepfake or AI-driven attacks. Its online gaming commission was coordinated for seven years by Antonio Lara, who has since moved to MentorBet, Grupo Oklahoma’s consultancy arm, to lead its Mexican alliance with Atucha Strategic Advisory, a sign of how much institutional experience in the association is now flowing into commercial roles around the market.
The regulatory backdrop explains the emphasis. Mexico still operates under a gaming law dating from 1947, with online operators working through SEGOB permits and a 30 per cent IEPS tax, a structure that leaves licensed companies carrying heavy obligations while offshore platforms operate outside them. By tying its responsible-gaming agenda to a call for full regulation, AIEJA is making the case that consumer protection and market formalisation are the same project: the tools it lists, from age verification to self-exclusion registers, only work at scale inside a licensed system with coordinated public and private oversight.
AIEJA also wants regulation built on continuous evaluation of results, rather than a one-off statute, and on coordination between the public and private sectors. Whether that framing gains traction with legislators will depend on how Congress handles the licensing-transparency push that surfaced earlier this year, and on whether operators back the association’s standards with measurable commitments of their own.