Zecure Gaming loses appeal in Sweden
The operator had appealed against a fine for offering betting on an under-17s football match.
Sweden.- The Supreme Administrative Court has rejected Zecure Gaming‘s appeal against a fine for offering betting on an under-17s football match. The Swedish gambling regulator Spelinspektionen had issued a warning and a SEK 3.5m (€330.770) penalty against the operator after it offered bets on a match between Georgia and Slovakia in 2019.
Zecure has attempted to appeal against the fine several times. In 2020, the Swedish Administrative Court reduced the fine to SEK 3m. The Swedish Court of Appeal, and now the Supreme Administrative Court, have both upheld that decision.
Swedish gambling legislation prohibits betting markets on all fixtures in which the majority of athletes are aged under 18. The law is designed to protect against match fixing.
Spelinspektionen said: “It is the licensee’s responsibility to ensure that the vast majority of participants are not under 18 years of age before betting is offered. If this is not possible, the licensee should not offer betting.”
It had said about its decision at the time: “In mitigation, Zecure Gaming has taken measures to prevent betting on matches where the vast majority of participants are under 18 years of age.”
However, it added that it did “not consider that the mitigating circumstances consider the seriousness of the violation in such a way that it can be regarded as minor or excusable.”
Paf proposes gambling advertising ban and higher taxes in Sweden
Ålands Penningautomatförening (Paf), the gambling operator owned by the regional government of the Åland islands, has proposed that Sweden ban gambling advertising and hike taxes on the industry.
The operator made the comments during a policy discussion that it held at the annual political forum, Almedalen Week in Visby, Gotland. The panel was entitled “The industry we love to hate”.
It argued that gambling operators should be prohibited from advertising on TV and outdoors and from sponsoring sports or using any advertising involving sports. It also suggested that the tax rate on gambling be raised from 18 per cent to 21 per cent in order to compensate the sports sector for the loss of sponsorship money.
Last month, the Swedish government has decided not to go ahead with proposals that would have seen the national gambling regulator clamp down on unlicensed gaming operators.
Spelinspektionen currently takes action against gaming operators that actively target Swedish players, but the proposed change would have led to the regulator going after any operator that failed to actively block Swedish players.
The proposal was made in a draft law on match-fixing and unlicensed gambling which took on recommendations from a report by Gunnar Larsson, the director-general of the Ministry of Finance and Chamber of Commerce.
