Swedish gaming regulator Svenska Spel has suspended all betting on the Division 2 Södra Svealand (SvFF) football league. The move came in response to a request from the Swedish Football Association and Svenska Spel’s own identification of suspicious betting patterns related to the games.
“The situation that has arisen is so serious that we are unfortunately forced to take action to suspend the betting markets to safeguard the integrity of the league and prevent manipulation for the rest of the season,” SvFF Secretary General Håkan Sjöstrand said.
According to SBC News, a number of “integrity monitoring bodies” disclosed that up to 13 matches are suspected to have been influenced by gambling activity, with Spelinspektionen calling for a blanket ban on offering odds on the league for all licensees in the market.
“We work daily to ensure that the gaming products we offer our customers are free from manipulation,” said Dan Korhonen, head of sports betting and gaming security for the operator. “In discussions with the Football Association, we have expressed our concerns about Division 2 Södra Svealand, as the number of matches under suspicion is so high that the integrity of the whole league can be questioned.
“We see no other solution than stopping all betting on the league.”
