Bet365 not to be punished for under age bets in Sweden

The Spelinspektionen, Sweden’s gambling regulator, has decided not to punish four of its licensees (Betsson, Bet365, AB Trav Och Galopp (ATG), Spooniker) after concluding that they haven’t actually violated any rules on accepting wagers on matches involving underage athletes.

In late April, the Spelinspektionen issued a warning to some of its licensees who had offered in-play bets on the performance of individual athletes, among them athletes under the age of 18. A few months later, in July, they lowered the boom on eight licensees, including Bet365’s Hillside Sports offshoot, which was ordered to pay a penalty of SEK10m (1k EUR).

After closer inspection, the regulator announced that since the players involved “were largely over 18 years”, the investigation on the four operators could be dropped. Nevertheless, it’s yet unclear from the regulator’s announcement whether they will continue to conduct investigations on other licensees as warnings were given to four more in August.

The confusion over what is and isn’t permissible convinced Gaming Innovation Group to shut its Swedish-licensed sportsbook in July. In May 2018, Spelinspektionen (under its previous Lotteriinspektionen identity), followed warnings sent to 39 online media outlets to stop running ads for internationally licensed gambling sites within 24 hours or face the consequences. The Swedish media scored a legal victory this week after an appeals court ruled that they didn’t have to pay fines for running ads for unauthorized gambling operators.