Vivaro wins Swedish licence appeal

The Administrative Court has overturned the regulator Spelinspektionen’s decision to revoke Vivaro’s licence.

Sweden.- Vivaro Gaming has won its appeal against the Swedish regulator Spelinspektionen’s decision to revoke its licence last month. Spelinspektionen had revoked its online betting and online gaming licence because it didn’t start activities within a year of it being issued in June 2020. 

The operator appealed to Sweden’s Administrative Court, arguing that it planned to begin operating from late August. It said several factors had delayed its launch, primarily the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on staff. 

It was also affected by the conflict between Armenia, where it is based, and Azerbaijan after 50 staff were pulled into the Armenian armed forces.

The Administrative Court agreed that it was reasonable to give the operator another chance and reversed the regulator’s decision. It instead gave Vivaro a warning.

Meanwhile, Sweden’s Ministry of Finance has defended its proposal for Spelinspektionen to enact tougher controls on offshore gambling operators. 

It proposes that the regulator take action against any operators that does not actively block Swedish players. Currently it only takes action against operators found to be targeting Swedish customers, through using the Swedish language, for example.

Earlier this month Spelinspektionen ordered Curaçao-licensed Indigo Soft to stop operating in the Swedish market after finding that its Cashalot site had used Swedish-language materials and had not stopped Swedish players from signing up.