Swedish regulator to examine under-18 sports betting incident

The Swedish Gambling Authority (Spelinspektionen) is investigating a case where licensed operators took bets on a Swedish football match involving players under the age of 18, against gambling law.

Several bets were made on the Swedish Premier League game involving AIK and IFK Gothenburg players including first scorer and whether the player will score two or three goals during the match.

Under the Swedish gambling act, betting on games where most of the players are under the age of 18 is illegal. The primary goal of this is to discourage match fixing involving youth players.

Spelinspektionen would not confirm the names of the operators involved in providing the bets, but said it was “very serious” about these infringements and was investigating several companies for violations.

Katarina Abrahamsson, Spelinspektionen’s match fixing coordinator said: “We take this issue seriously and it is the responsibility of the licence holders to meet the requirements in the gambling legislation.”

Following these infringements, the regulator has confirmed that it has initiated “special supervision” of these betting operators to ensure that further incidents do not occur.

Abrahamsson would not be drawn on the potential sanctions for these breaches, but the regulator has the authority to issue fines and potentially strip licensed operators of their licences for non-compliance with gaming law.