Swedish Authority orders Betfair, Betway And SkillOnNet to pay fines

The Swedish Gambling Authority has ordered penalty fees totaling SEK23.2 million or equivalent to US$2.20 million to three gambling operators.

PlayOJO operator, SkillOnNet, was ordered to pay SEK14m, while Betway was ordered to pay SEK4.7m and Betfair was to pay SEK4.5m. All three operators are deemed to be breaching local gambling regulations which were first identified by the regulator in 2019.

Handed the biggest sum among the three was SkillOnNet. The fine was ordered against it due to a finding by the regulator that the operator offered daily bonuses, monthly rewards, slot tournaments, free spins, cashback and VIP packages for months despite the fact that the country’s gaming law, which forbids such offers, has already come into force.

“Free offers should be banned or at least restricted and are highly relevant from a gaming responsibility perspective. Restrictions on the right to offer bonuses are justified by considerations of the protection of consumers’ health,” the law said.

“That bonus offers attract players with problems to continue their gambling and maintain gambling in a way that can be considered unhealthy is very problematic. For this reason, the right to offer bonuses should be limited. It shall not be permitted for a licensee to offer or provide bonuses linked to games other than on the first occasion when the player plays on any of the licensee’s games.”

Betway was found to breach the regulations with similar actions and faced an additional charge in December for another breach regarding outlawed bonus offers.

Meanwhile, Betfair was caught redhanded for accepting wagers on an under-19s football game in 2019. This was a breach of the Swedish law that states “a licensee may not refer to betting on events where the predominant number of participants is under 18.”

All three companies attempted to submit appeals to Sweden’s Administrative Court, Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Administrative Court. However, the SGA confirmed on July 6 that the Supreme Administrative Court has announced its decision not to grant leave to appeal to any of the operators.