In 2020, Swedish legislators amended the country’s Gambling Act in a way to suspend licensed sports betting operators from being able to accept bets on penalties, such as yellow cards in football matches. On November 15th, the local gambling regulatory body – Spelinspektionen – made a formal expression of disapproval for Betsson breaching the aforementioned rules.
The Swedish Gaming Inspectorate revealed that it received information that the gambling operator had accepted bets on penalties, which violates the current gambling laws in the country. The tip dates back to May 20th, 2021, when a football match between the teams of Malmö and Elfsborg took place.
The gambling regulatory body of Sweden believes that Betsson breached the gambling law for that football match by allowing its customers to place bets on penalties. A special statement released by Spelinspektionen reads that Betsson Nordic Ltd was found in breach of rules as it offered betting on penalties in a football match, which is currently constituted as illegal under the existing laws.
Spelinspektionen also explained that the type of game does not make any difference when it comes to any violation of the aforementioned rules. Still, the Swedish gambling watchdog acknowledged that considering the fact that the match in question was a high-level one, the risk of undue influence by referees and players should be considered lower in comparison to the ones in other contexts.
Betsson Accepted 30 Bets on Football Match Penalties, Breaching Existing Gambling Rules
The gambling company, however, did not agree with the accusations and said that it only offered its betting services as a part of a combination game.
Spelinspektionen shared that Betsson received an overall of 30 bets on penalties, which generated SEK3,000 in total turnover. Although it accepted the bets, the company did not consider that these actions violated any of the country’s gambling rules and regulations. The statement of the Swedish Gaming Inspectorate also said that, based on the degree of seriousness that had been assessed by the regulator in regard to the violation of the country’s gambling rules, a remark was considered a sufficient intervention with the operator for the time being.
Still, Betsson took swift action and immediately declared the games void. As a result, all of the players received their stakes back from the gambling company. Furthermore, the betting operator took measures to make sure there are no more occurrences of this type in the future, although the option of placing bets on penalties was offered by a third-party supplier.
Betsson revealed that it has developed a special technology solution that is supposed to prevent betting on penalties during matches. The gambling company also said that the third-party supplier took similar action in order to make sure that no future violations of the country’s gambling legislation occur. Furthermore, the operator shared that it did not believe there had been any risk of match-fixing in regard to the case. It also confirmed that Spelinspektionen did not find the need for any more actions against the gambling operator, considering the company’s actions.
