The Swedish gambling authority, Spelinspektionen, has fined online bookmaker Betfair for repeated breaches of its licensing conditions.
According to the authority’s announcement, Betfair offered betting odds on Sweden’s U21 Allsvenskan (soccer league). Betting on U21 sports is prohibited under Swedish gambling laws. Gambling may only be offered on the four top tiers of football in Sweden.
The announcement also reveals that Betfair has committed the same offence on multiple occasions. The company offered betting on 148 matches during 2021/22 with 224 customers placing wagers totaling SEK1,125,352 (€98,705) on 139 matches during that time.
In response to the investigation carried out by Spelinspektionen, Betfair suspended betting on all Swedish football with the exception of the top two tiers. The company also implemented a series of measures to ensure that the breach does not happen again.
As a result of the company’s systematic breaches, Spelinspektionen made the decision to fine Betfair SEK4 million (€350,841). Breaches like this could result in a revocation or suspension of an operator’s license, however, the regulator deemed that the measures Betfair had taken to prevent the breach from happening again were sufficient and so issued the company with a serious warning.
This brings the total fines for 2023 to more than €49.2 million with Betfair’s fine being the first issued this year by the Swedish regulator.
According to industry fines tracker website GamblingIndustryFines.com, gambling industry fines in 2022 came to €251,712,034 / $269,532,490 – a significant increase of 443.9% compared to 2021’s total of €44,753,969 / $48,642,992.
Ciaran has been working within the Gambling Industry as a deep analyst since 2019. His deep knowledge and understanding of all the gambling regulations, and processes makes him a true asset, and an always valuable point of view for Gambling Industry News, allowing us to cover every topics from a brand new perspective.