The Swedish government has outlined its intention to strengthen its work against unlicensed play, as well as combatting match fixing, after a new inquiry was appointed.
Officially detailed in a press conference by Ardalan Shekarabi, minister of social insurance, the aim is that of “identifying obstacles and proposing solutions to enable more effective supervision of illegal gambling”.
Gunnar Larsson, director general of the Swedish Chamber of Commerce, is tasked with leading an investigation to delve into issues raised by the Spelinspektionen regarding application difficulties with payment blocking.
Furthermore, the inquiry is also charged with taking a comprehensive approach and analysing questions about the work, methods, assignments and conditions of the relevant authorities.
This move follows numerous negative statements made in recent times regarding the Swedish market, with Kindred the latest to hit out at a potential extension of extra restrictions, highlighting a lack of facts and worry that the government’s policy is opposite to that of the country’s Parliament.
“We have a responsibility to protect, above all, vulnerable consumers from illegal gambling, but also to protect the serious players in the gambling market from unfair competition,” said Shekarabi.
“Increased efforts are needed to exclude illegal gambling from the Swedish gambling market. We are now also intensifying the work against match-fixing and organised crime.”
Moreover, the inquiry will also be commissioned to investigate how the work against match-fixing can be strengthened. This includes protecting the integrity of sports, but also preventing gambling from being misused for criminal activities and maintaining strong consumer protection in the market.
Larsson is tasked with proposing measures to remove preventative obstacles when it comes to information sharing between all relevant actors, as well as reviewing current work being undertaken in the fight against match fixing.
“We are very positive that the government has appointed an investigation to strengthen the work towards two important areas, unlicensed play and match-fixing,” added Camilla Rosenberg, director general of the Spelinspektionen.
“The tools the authority has today to counter illegal gambling are not sufficient, which we previously reported to the government in the reports ‘Developments in the gambling market and measures taken due to the new coronavirus.’”
