Swedish gambling regulator Spelinspektionen has administered warnings and penalty packages to four Swedish sportsbook operators after it was discovered that the operators were offering betting markets for events which involved competitors under the age of 18.
The size of the penalty issued to each operator was based on income, with each individual penalty equalling to roughly 0.1% of revenue.
Cherry’s ‘ComeOn Sweden’ subsidiary was hit with a SEK9.5m fine, while Snabbare was fined SEK6m, and Hajper, another ComeOn brand, SEK4.5m. Legolas.bet, was the fourth brand to be penalised, receiving a SEK100,000 penalty.
The penalties have been issued following offered markets in which the majority of players were aged 18 or under. These markets included five U17 international football matches between, two European U17 Championship matches, one Swedish domestic U19 match in April and an U17 volleyball match that took place in May.
Spelinspektionen, which has been enforcing the prohibition of under 18 offerings since Sweden’s re-regulated market opened at the turn of the year, also issued warnings to a number of operators who were offering betting options on an Allsvenska football match featuring under 18 players.
The gambling watchdog has also been requested by the Swedish Football Association to restrict betting on its Division 2 Södra Svealand, after the lower-tier league received high levels of match-fixing allegations.
As it stands, Branschföreningen för Onlinespel (BOS), the operator association for Sweden, requested a meeting with the regulator which has since been dismissed until a licensee meeting in September.
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.
