Sweden wants to do more against match-fixing

Sweden has been looking to actively engage and uproot practices of match-fixing as one of the most serious offences against sports and sports betting in general. On May 2, the country’s Finance Minister, Niklas Wykman, and the Swedish Gaming Authority’s Director General, Camilla Rosenberg, revealed a new set of measures designed to address the issue head-on and help across key areas.

For starters, Rosenberg and Wykman intend for the measures to help when it comes to communication between individual stakeholders. Operators will have a better opportunity to flag and exchange information with each other, but so will sports federations and the regulator.

This should help create an ecosystem where match-fixing does not go undetected, but also a model allowing all concerned parties to intervene before match-fixing occurs. In a translated statement, Wykman had this to say:

"Match-fixing fattens the gangs at the same time as, among other things, harm is done to youth sports. Athletes should not be pawns in the activities of organized crime. To fight crime and protect sports, it is important to stop match-fixing."

To help boost the regulator’s remit in this specific area, the government has agreed to grant the regulator an additional SEK11m in funding, or roughly $1m. This will come with several tweaks on the regulatory level for operators as well which will now be asked to exchange information about potential match-fixing, and also prioritize such reports both to their peers and the regulator.

Spelinspektionen, as the Swedish Gaming Authority is known for its Swedish acronym, also puts the onus on operators to ensure that they are not hesitant or delay any information about a potential match-fixing offence. Failure to report a suspicion of such an offence could lead to a heavy financial penalty equal to 10% of an operator’s annual turnover, ensuring that licensed companies have a very strong incentive to comply.

The Spelinspektionen is also collaborating with global partners to help strengthen its ability to act against match-fixing offences on home turf, as attested by a recent partnership between the regulator and the International Betting Integrity Association, an organization fully committed to tackling match-fixing on a local and global level.

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