SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
In a somewhat surprising development, the Swedish government has fined itself, with the country’s s gambling authority Spelinspektionen issuing a SEK100m (£7.5m) penalty to Svenska Spel – the operator wholly owned by Sweden.
According to the indictment, the penalty relates to breaches of the Gambling Act part of Sweden’s re-regulation in 2019. More particularly, the operator has apparently failed to protect a number of customers from gambling harm when there were indications of problem gambling behaviour.
Fredrik Wastenson, CEO of Svenska Spel’s digital operations, commented: “We take the Gambling Inspectorate’s decision to heart. The inspection period covers October to December 2021 and we have already addressed many of the views. We have a high level of ambition in the work with our gaming responsibility.”
While Svenska Spel initially agreed to pay for the alleged shortcomings, Wastenson maintained that the operator did not agree with Spelinspektionen’s conclusion on the assessment.
“Since the duty of care was introduced in 2019, it has become clearer how it should be interpreted through the Gaming Authority’s guidance and supervisory decisions.
“We have adjusted our work as the picture became clearer. We are constantly developing our work, our methods and technical ability. Not only to live up to the legislation but also our own high ambitions.
“When it comes to how the risk of gambling problems should be assessed, we start from an overall assessment of the customer’s behaviour which is based on evidence-based research, our own effect measurements as well as current legislation.
“In its decision, the Swedish Gaming Authority makes a different assessment, which goes further than what can be deduced from the current regulations. We will now consider whether to appeal the decision,” Wastenson concluded.
Parallel to the above, Spelinspektionen also penalised Yggdrasil Gaming with €26,000 over licensing non-compliance.
