Swedish regulator proposes specific betting markets ban

Sports betting markets on yellow cards, red cards, penalties and disqualifications could be banned in Sweden under new proposals outlined by the Swedish Gambling Authority (SGA).

The new regulations, released for consultation by the SGA, include barring all betting on “penalties for wrongdoing, contravention or provocative behaviour in connection with a match, contest or tournament”.

The SGA has confirmed this will include whether penalties will be awarded, penalty conversions, red or yellow cards, warnings and disqualifications or similar events.

Bets could also be prohibited “on the loss of a part of a match or competition”, including on whether participants will score, lose a game or lose points in a match or contest.

The SGA has said “there is a need” for restrictions to reduce match-fixing in Swedish sport and the regulator has assessed the consequences of various measures whilst working in partnership with the Swedish Sports Federation.

In its assessment, the SGA has said it considered limiting bets to a certain extent and creating regulations that contain directories for approximately 10 to 15 sports with the greatest risk of manipulation, including football and tennis.

However, the SGA said such regulations would need to be “very extensive” and were likely to affect Swedish channelisation rates.

“In addition, such a regulation would become unpredictable and possibly lead to great uncertainty among licensees because names of competitions, divisions and levels are changing,” the SGA said.

Reacting to the ban, Khalid Ali, CEO of the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) said his body would review the proposal closely and was committed to working with the SGA to combat match-fixing.

“However, from the data we have, it is difficult to see that the proposal to prohibit certain markets is justified or will be effective. There is a range of evidence that the markets proposed to be prohibited are not the markets that corrupters primarily focus on as liquidly levels are too low and illicit activity more easily identified.” Ali added.

A potential ban was mooted in October, prompting an outcry from Swedish trade association BOS, which claimed that it would enable match-fixing by pushing betting towards the black market.

In addition to banning betting on these events, the SGA has said it wants to introduce a blanket ban on offering individual performances in a match, competition or tournament by a participant who at the time of betting is under 18 years of age.

The SGA has said in those instances where an individual under the age of 18 is included in a group or team, betting on these events should be prohibited.

This follows the SGA issuing fines against eight operators last year for offering markets on Swedish football matches where several players were under the age of 18, although the regulator later cleared four operators including Bet365, Kindred, Betsson and ATG following a full investigation.

Under current Swedish gambling laws, betting on events where a majority of participants are under 18 is prohibited.

The SGA has also proposed requiring Swedish-licensed operators to provide a round-up of all suspected manipulations over the course of the previous 12 months by no later than 31 March.

The consultation closes on 14 February 2020.

Picture Credit:kinemero