Police monitoring WRC Rally Finland for ad breaches
The National Police Board has warned unlicensed or overseas gambling operators not to try to advertise at this week’s World Wally Championship event.
Finland.- The National Police Board (NPB) has warned that it is monitoring the ongoing World Rally Championship (WRC) Rally Finland for potential breaches of gambling advertising rules. Finland only allows advertising for its monopoly gambling operator Veikkaus, but the BPB believes unlicensed or overseas gambling operators may try to use the event for marketing.
NPB senior adviser, Johanna Syväterä, said: “Attempts to market the brands of international gambling service providers and their games may appear during the event, in the form of logos printed on marketing materials. Marketing may appear along the rally route, on competitors’ clothing and fan merchandise, on video screens and light panels, in the background screens for interviews and brochures, stickers and other giveaways.”
She added: “We hope that informing the event participants in advance will suffice as a preventive measure so that no unlawful marketing occurs at the event. If, for some reason, this is not the case, we are prepared to act quickly.”
She warned that operators that breach Finland’s rules on gambling marketing risk fines based on net sales or taxable revenue. These can range between €10,000 and €5m for businesses and between €500 and €40,000 for individuals.
According to Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority (FCCA) data cited by the NPB, problematic gambling is “more common” outside Finland’s exclusive licence system. The FCAA estimates that the unlicensed sector attracted around €520-€590m in 2021.
The warning comes after the Finnish government confirmed plans to open the liberalise gambling in Finland. There will be licences for online casino gaming and sports betting, while Veikkaus will be divided into separate companies, reversing the merger that took place in 2017 when Veikkaus was combined with the slots operator Raha-automaattiyhdistys and the horse race betting operator Fintoto.
