Swedish gambling inspectorate Spelinspektionen has sanctioned a further raft of fines and warnings to licensed operators for breaching its rules on offering ‘under-18’ betting markets.
Publishing its latest industry update, Spelinspektionen has fined four licensed incumbents – ComeOn Sweden, Hajper Ltd, Legolas Invest and Faster Ltd for offering ‘betting on events where the majority of participants are under 18 years of age.’
The inspectorate continues its tough monitoring of licensed bookmaker betting markets which during H1 2019 trading, saw Spelinspektionen fine eight incumbents penatlities ranging between SEK 1-to-10 million for failure to comply with ‘Gambling Act Chapter 8’ provisions.
Spelinspektionen latest round of industry penalties and warnings see –
- ComeOn Sweden fined SEK 6 million (€500,000)
- Hajper Ltd operator of Hajper.com fined SEK 4.5 million (€420,000)
- Legolas Invest operator of Legolas.bet. fined SEK 700,000 (€65,000)
- Faster Ltd operator of Faster.com fined SEK 9.5 million (€850,000)
Further to its update, Spelinspektionen has published individual documents outlining how the operators failed to meet regulatory conditions related to their wagering services.
Spelinspektionen underlines that Gaming Act Chapter 8 provisions have been implemented to protect younger athletes from gambling exposure and further secure Swedish sports integrity.
The inspectorate has further advised betting firms to ‘ensure no future violations’ by removing all betting inventory related to sports classified as Under-19,20 and 21 markets.
Representing industry stakeholders, Swedish online gambling trade association BOS has demanded a meeting with Spelinspektionen governance in order to clarify Chapter 8 provisions on defining under-18 sports wagering events.
Closing its update, Spelinspektionen warns operators that further regulations and measures are being developed to strengthen its protection of under-18 sports – with new regulations inbound by the beginning of next year.
Source: SBC News
