Swedish gambling regulator Spelinspektionen has issued warnings to AB Trav och Galopp (ATG) and Polar Limited after ruling both operators breached sports betting regulations in the country.
ATG on 2 February this year admitted to Spelinspektionen that it had accepted bets on a horse ridden by a jockey who, at the time, was under the age of 18.
Regulations in Sweden prohibit licensed operators from accepting wagers on the individual achievements of a participant in a match, competition or tournament if that are under 18 years of age.
Upon informing Spelinspektionen of its error, ATG included all details of the breach and also said it would take steps to ensure a similar incident would not occur again.
ATG added that since 24 February, it had put in place new measures to ensure customers cannot bet on underage competitors in sports events.
In its evaluation of the case, Spelinspektionen said there was no evidence to suggest that the error constituted a “systematic deficiency” of ATG’s procedures and as such should not be assessed as serious.
While Spelinspektionen opted not to issue a penalty fee, it said the error was not minor or excusable and as such gave an official warning to ATG.
In the case of Coolbet operator Polar, the operator informed Spelinspektionen that on 9 April this year it offered betting on certain match events during the Fifa World Cup football qualifier between Sweden and Georgia on March 25, in breach of Swedish law.
Operators in Sweden must not allow betting on fouls that lead to penalty kicks or yellow or red cards in sports events.
Polar, which is active in Sweden through its Coolbet.com brand, said the betting was offered by mistake and all wagers on such in-match events were cancelled, with stakes returned to players.
The operator said the mistake was a result of human error, adding that it introduced new measures in January of this year to block Swedish customers from accessing such betting options.
Analysing the case, Spelinspektionen noted that since the incident, Polar strengthened its routines to prevent similar errors. The regulator said while there was no evidence of any systematic defect within its procedures and the case was not serious, it was also neither minor or excusable.
As such, Spelinspektionen did not hand a penalty fee to Polar, but again issued the operator with a warning.
