SGA to appeal court ruling in overturned Kindred case

The Swedish Gambling Authority (SGA) will appeal the Swedish Administrative Court’s decision to revoke a prior injunction against Kindred Group. Earlier this month, Kindred won its appeal against a December 2020 SGA sanction for violating the SEK5,000 (£440) per week deposit limit for online casino in a court hearing at the Swedish Administrative Court in Linköping. The sanction was imposed after the SGA found consumers were able to deposit funds into their adjacent sportsbook accounts before transferring the cash into their online casino accounts. Responding to the latest revocation of the ruling, the SGA suggested the court’s interpretation would lead to a devaluing of imposed deposit limits as a way of protecting Swedish players. “The Administrative Court’s interpretation also means that the licensee who offers both commercial online gaming and betting can easily circumvent the deposit limits, while a licensee who only offers commercial online gaming cannot,” the SGA added. Elsewhere, Swedish trade association BOS has hit out at the country’s Gambling Market Inquiry proposals to ban advertising of online casino between 6am and 9pm on TV, radio and streaming sites. “Marketing is the single most important tool for convincing Swedish gambling consumers to choose games within the licensed system,” said BOS CEO Gustaf Hoffstedt. “If the opportunity for Swedish-licensed companies to inform about their existence is removed, it will lead to even more gambling consumers choosing games on the black market. “This is already a major problem today. Every fourth gambling krona is not played within the licensing system and the leakage is expected to become even greater if the proposal is adopted,” Hoffstedt added.