Unibet CEO casts doubt on Svenska Spel casino plans
Henrik Tjärnström says decision to award Svenska Spel with an online casino licence would be "extremely strange"
Unibet CEO Henrik Tjärnström said he doubted Svenska Spel’s will receive permission to launch online casino launch from the Swedish authorities and any approval would be an “extremely strange” decision.
The Swedish monopoly revealed it had requested permission to launch an online casino last month, however Tjärnström said that any approval would be at odds with the current infringement proceedings Svenska Spel is facing over its online poker and sportsbook products.
“To then add on [casino] would seem to be putting fuel on the fire to me, so I doubt it,” Tjärnström said.
Sweden’s monopoly has come under fire regarding its opaque approach to online gambling regulation and last year the country was issued with infringement proceedings from the European Commission, which requested additional information on its plans.
In April this year the Swedish government announced it will present plans to adopt a Danish-style licensing model for its egaming industry, and speaking to eGaming Review previously Carin Kappe of Sweden’s Ministry of Finance insisted the EC ruling would have no influence over the country’s decision.
Speaking to analysts on the prospect of Sweden adopting a Denmark-like licensing model, Tjärnström said the prospect of more operators entering a new market was “not necessarily a bad thing” as their presence would “legitimise the products” and stimulate the market.
Tjärnström also doubted that Svenska Spel being refused permission to launch an online casino would set a precedent to be carried over to any future legislation, citing Denmark’s decision to regulate online casino products despite Danske Spil having been refused permission to launch casino products before.
“The non-EU dot.com operators will always just be a mouse click away and they will have that offering, so if a casino is not included in Swedish re-regulation channelization we believe would be very poor,” he said. “I think market forces would drive casino to be included in my opinion.”
Svenska Spel had yet to reply to requests for comment on this story at the time of publication.