Swedish FA slams SGA for non-cooperation on lower league match-fixing
Gambling regulator declines FA request to suspend betting on lower league football
The Swedish Football Association (SvFF) has criticised the Swedish Gambling Authority (SGA) over its decision not to prohibit licensed operators from immediately offering betting on the Swedish second division, following claims of match-fixing on games.
The SvFF wrote a letter to the SGA last month demanding it prohibit all betting on the league by Swedish licensed operators but the regulator has refused to do so.
The SGA claimed there is insufficient justification for doing so under the Swedish Gaming Act but said it was currently working on drafting new regulations in this area and that the SvFF’s concerns would be “taken care of first and foremost in this work”.
In response, the SvFF said it did not agree with the SGA’s “narrow interpretation” of the Swedish Gambling Act.
SvFF’s secretary general Håkan Sjöstrand said: “It must be possible for the responsible authority to make quick decisions in more urgent situations of this kind. Otherwise, this must be clarified in the legislation.”
The SGA has said it is currently working on new legislation and will not act in this area
It follows reports in the Swedish media last month which claimed as many as 13 different matches in the Division 2 Southern Svealand may have been manipulated.
Manipulation in the matches was initially identified by Sportradar, which reported directly to FIFA and UEFA under its monitoring agreement with football’s governing bodies.
At the time, Sportradar said there was “clear and overwhelming betting evidence” that the course or result of these matches was unduly influenced with a view to gaining corrupt betting profits”.
In the interim, Svenska Spel, Bethard, 888 and Unibet have all suspended any betting on Division 2 football matches in compliance with the SvFF’s request.
“We hope, of course, that all serious companies will follow, despite the Gambling Inspectorate’s negative position. We cannot wait for the authority to finalize its regulations or for the law to be amended,” Sjöstrand added.
In the wake of the decision, the SvFF has said it will deploy enhanced measures to monitor the integrity of the league for the rest of the season, including the intensified monitoring of remaining betting operators.
Sjöstrand said the SvFF had devoted “considerable resources” to monitoring this league and slammed the SGA for not doing more at a time when it was collecting record levels of taxes from operators.
“It is not football itself, but games on football, that do the match fixing, and then the only decent thing is that authorities and gaming companies do what they can to help us in this fight,” Sjöstrand added.