Mr Nylander was detained a few days ago by Dutch police on a French arrest warrant, alleging breaches of France’s protectionist online bingo gaming laws. He vigorously denied any breaches of the law by himself or Unibet, and at first thought the warrant was a joke of some kind. The French rarely joke about these kind of things.

The question at issue is the inconsistency between restrictive French online gambling laws, and European Union Treaties requiring free trade and commerce between member states. Mr Nylander stressed that Unibet had at all times fully complied with the letter and spirit of EU regulations, and conducted fully transparent and properly audited operations.

He saw the French monopoly provisions as against the interests of French bingo players, and an anomaly which needed correction. Mr Nylander also pointed out that the French government itself has publicly spoken about opening its online gaming market – but as we all know ‘speaking about’ and ‘actually doing something’ is radically different.

The French court sitting in Nanterre released Mr Nylander on EUR 200,000 bail, to reappear when the case is listed for hearing. He faces a prison sentence of up to three years if found guilty.

Meanwhile, the matter is being tried in the press, with opinion sharply in favour of a liberal interpretation of the 19th century law, and against the state-owned lottery monopoly Française des Jeux and the monopoly on horse race betting, PMU. These authorities are the complainants in Mr Nylander’s case.

The European Commission has taken the unusual step of commenting that an innocent man may have been arrested.

Unibet does not as yet offer online bingo facilities. However, the company intends to continue accepting sports, casino games and poker bets from its French clients, despite the current proceedings.

Mr Nylander held a press conference at London’s Radisson Edwardian Hotel late last week. He said he expected more questions from the French authorities in the coming weeks and months. In a prepared statement, Mr Nylander referred to a spate of proceedings under the French laws against responsible operators, and urged reform of the anachronistic provisions. They were, he said, in complete disregard of both EU requirements, and the interests of the French gaming public.

At the same time, concern is growing amongst UK and European online bingo operators that there may be further US-style arrests of corporate executives within Europe, under similar protectionist laws.

A spokesman for Unibet said the company strongly believed that, within specific regulations, French consumers should be given the freedom to choose where they place their online bets. The opportunity was there, he said, for the government authorities and French casino operators alike to become co-leaders with private operators in the growing European online gambling market.