CEO of Svenska Spel Backing Proposed Betting Ban on selected Markets in Sweden

The President and CEO of Svenska Spel, Patrik Hofbauer, has backed the proposal of the Swedish Government for a further ban on selected sports betting markets.

This proposed crackdown comes after a meeting held between Ardalan Shekarabi, Sweden’s social security minister, the Swedish Football Association (SvFF) and the Swedish Ice Hockey Association. The topic of the meeting was the potential for manipulation across certain betting markets.

After the meeting, the regulator called for a ban on bets that can be manipulated by individual players among which are the yellow cards, corner and dismissals.

Words from the CEO

Hofbauer said: “Svenska Spel welcomes the minister’s message. It is common sense not to offer this kind of market. Match fixing is a problem for the sports and gaming industry already as it is and there is no reason for the gaming companies to make it easy for the match fixers. This type of event is very easy to manipulate, because they do not depend on the entire team effort, but can be controlled by a single player.”

“As a fresh example of this, we have the all-Swedish match between Kalmar and Elfsborg earlier this year, where a player is suspected of having drawn on a yellow card while his relatives bet that this would happen,” he added.

Hofbauer went on to say that Svenska Spel has always been behind the sport on this issue and that it was a matter of course for them to work together against cheating and crime. He also said that their customers should be able to feel confident that the matches they have played on are free from manipulation.

“The message from the minister shows that our politicians and legislators are also serious about match fixing. If a ban is now proposed and introduced, it will be a historic victory for the sport and the gaming companies that want to offer games on the of the sport. If you want the Swedish gaming market to be healthy and secure, then you welcome this message,” concluded Hofbauer.

More About Svenska Spel

The state-owned company is the most renowned and largest in the Swedish market. It manages well-known brands such as Lotto, Triss, Stryktipset and Oddset as well as four international casino offerings including roulette, blackjack and poker. The company was founded in 1997 and later merged with Tipstjanst and Penninglotteriet.

The company employs around 2,100 people at Svenska Spel Group and has around 5,100 partners all over Sweden. Their teams are trained in gaming responsibility, paying close attention to the age limits of their players.

Source:

“Svenska Spel CEO Backs Proposed Betting Ban on Selected Markets”, Niji Narayan, europeangaming.eu, October 16, 2019.