Legislation
Sweden – Swedish FA slams regulator for failing to ban Division 2 betting
By Phil - 5 August 2019
The Swedish Football Association (SvFF) has slammed Spelinspektionen; the national regulatory body, for not stopping licenced operators from offering betting on its second division following a match fixing scandal.
The SvFF said once it had received evidence of match-fixing in 13 games in Division 2 Södra Svealand, it advised Spelinspektionen to ban betting on the division immediately.
Spelinspektionen claimed the Swedish Gaming Act did not support prohibitions and opted not to intervene.
SvFF General Secretary, Håkan Sjöstrand has since said: “It must be possible for the responsible authority to make quick decisions in more urgent situations of this kind, otherwise, this must be clarified in the legislation. We hope that all serious companies will follow, despite the Spelinspektionen’s negative position. We cannot wait for the authority to finalise its regulations or to change the law. We are forced to devote considerable resources to monitoring and other measures.”
Mr. Sjöstrand has encouraged operators in Sweden to stop any betting on the division. Svenska Spel has stopped already whilst others including Bethard, 888 and Unibet have committed to doing the same.
