Gaming Stakeholders Lash Out At Swedish Report

Operators have criticized the report recently issued by the Swedish National Gambling Consultation which recommended that state-owned Svenska Spel retain its monopoly on online gaming.

The report went as far to include proposals to enforce IP and payments blocking provisions alongside any sports betting licensing to be made available to private operators by 2011. Betsson was amongst the first operator to lambast the Swedish Commission’s report for allegedly ignoring expert advice that operators including Betsson itself provided at their own cost. Ladbrokes also has its own opinion on the Swedish proposal, quickly labelling it as an anti-competitive initiative.

The report was initially commissioned in order to address allegations of EU law infringement. Gaming bodies alongside with operators are expected to add further pressure on the Swedish Government following their dissatisfaction with this report outcome.