Branschföreningen för Onlinespel (BOS) has slammed Spelinspektoren for new proposed regulations that would ban betting on certain markets.
Some of the suggested bans include betting on yellow cards in football, as well as faults in tennis. In the eyes of Spelinspektoren, this would stop potential match-fixers from influencing players.
Not everyone is on board
Contrasting to Spelinspektoren’s thoughts, BOS think that banning these bets would have the opposite effect. The association argued that by removing these markets, it would be tougher to track suspicious activities.
BOS Secretary Gustaf Hoffstedt said: “Of course, it is unfortunate to open the door to the decriminalisation of the manipulation of sports events. Spelinspektionen should, on the contrary, protect sports from cheating and these new opportunities for match fixing.”
Hoffstedt continued: “The reasoning is that the new regulations should prevent match fixing, but in reality it clears the way for it. When you rob Swedish-licensed gaming companies of having complete betting portfolios, you hand over important parts of the market to unlicensed gaming companies.”
BOS and Spelinspektoren – a long history
This isn’t the first time that BOS hasn’t seen eye-to-eye with Spelinspektoren. Last year, the trading organisation warned that stricter regulation “would virtually mean giving away the Swedish gambling market to unlicensed operators”.
Possible changes coming to Swedish betting
Spelinspektoren announced yesterday that it intends to ban a number of bet types. These include betting that a team or athlete will lose a match or tournament, along with a ban on bets on the performance of players under the age of 18.
These, along with the yellow card ban, form part of a consultation which has been launched to discuss them. It will run until 14th February, after which the regulator will analyse feedback it’s provided.
Authorities in Sweden have already made it clear that they intend to clamp down on illegal activity in online gambling this year. It has revealed a strategy to achieve this, along with banning various unregulated operators.
