Sweden’s gaming regulator, known as Spelinspektionen, has fined eight gaming operators for offering betting markets on events where the majority of the players were under age 18.
The operators are Flutter Entertainment (formerly Paddy Power/Betfair), GVC Holdings, Bet365, the Stars Group, Gaming Innovation Group, Bethard Group, Casinostugan Ltd. and Polar Ltd. Each has received a warning and fines amounting to SEK41.2m (US$4.4 million).
Hillside ENC, license-holder for Bet365 in Sweden, was hit with a penalty of SEK10 million (US$1.1 million), as did TSG Interactive, which holds the license for pokerstars.se, pokerstarscasino.se, fulltilt.se and betstars.se, according to SBC News. Betfair International, was fined SEK5.5 million and Bethard Group must pay SEK2.5 million.
Katarina Abrahamson, coordinator against match fixing at the Swedish Gambling Authority, called the activities a “serious breach” of Swedish law and called on gaming operators to act in accordance with the law and takes steps to curb illicit gambling, for example, by not offering games on U19 and U21 series.
