The Swedish government has decided not to go ahead with proposals that would have seen the national gambling regulator clampdown on unlicensed gambling operators.
Spelinspektionen currently takes action against gambling operators that actively target Swedish players, but the proposed change would have led to the regulator going after any operator that failed to actively block Swedish players.
The proposal was made in a draft law on match-fixing and unlicensed gambling which took on recommendations from a report by Gunnar Larsson, the director-general of the Ministry of Finance and Chamber of Commerce.
Spelinspektionen has said that the change would help eliminate the current need for an interpretation of what targeting Swedish players entails. However, the state treasury has said that the proposed change was “not reasonable” because it would oblige companies that have no business in Sweden to adopt measures to block Swedish customers.
On top of that, the Administrative Court in Linköping said it was unclear whether the Swedish government actually had the power to adopt such a measure and the Public Prosecutor’s Office said it would be “very difficult to investigate and prosecute”.
The government concluded that the change would risk putting the focus “on whether players are resident or permanently resident in Sweden, instead of on whether the games are adapted for the Swedish market”.
It added that “there are still strong reasons to allow the Gambling Act’s current scope of application to be developed through practice before it may be relevant to consider an extension”.
As for the topic of match-fixing, the government proposes to allow gambling licensees and sports bodies to process personal data to check if sportspeople are not insider betting. It also proposes a clearer definition of “match-fixing” was necessary. The changes would come into effect from July 1 next year.
No Copyright infringement intended. Video/Photo Unknown Direct for credits/issue or text us +57 3606412 ... | Respect to Photographers & Influencer
