Betfair, Betway and SkillOnNet lose Swedish appeals over historic fines
Supreme Administrative Court dismisses operators’ right to appeal in underage betting and bonusing cases
Betfair, Betway and SkillOnNet have been denied the right to appeal historic fines for breaches of the Swedish Gaming Act by the country’s Supreme Administrative Court.
The trio, who contested fines for offering underage betting and bonuses respectively, sought to contest these fines against the Swedish Gambling Authority (SGA), but will now have to pay amounts totalling SEK23.2m (£1.8m).
The first of these, Betfair received a SEK5.5m fine in July 2019 for offering betting markets on the match between Vasalunds IF and FC Djursholm on 12 April 2019.
In total, 12 of the 18 players in the Vasalunds IF team were under the age of 18, while seven FC Djursholm players were underage, representing more than 52.7% of the total players.
Under Swedish gambling laws, offering betting markets is illegal where a “majority” of participants are under the age of 18, a rule which the SGA used to fine the Flutter Entertainment subsidiary.
Betfair appealed its fine to the Swedish Court of Appeal which upheld the SGA’s decision but chose to reduce the fine by SEK1m based on Betfair’s turnover being calculated incorrectly at the time of the initial fine.
The exchange betting operator appealed this decision to the Supreme Administrative Court, the highest Swedish court, which upheld earlier rulings.
In the case of Betway, the bookmaker was hit with a warning and a penalty of SEK5m in May 2019 for offering repeated bonuses to Swedish players, which is illegal under the country’s gambling laws.
Betway then launched an appeal against the SEK5m SGA fine, which was partly overturned by judges at the Swedish Administrative Court in Linköping in June 2020.
Upholding the warning for bonus violations, the court reduced the fine to SEK4.7m after it adjudged the company’s turnover had been wrongly estimated by the SGA.
Betway then attempted to have this fine fully expunged, a claim denied by the Supreme Administrative Court, and must now pay the full SEK4.7m fine.
The final fine ruled on by the Supreme Administrative Court, Skill On Net was fined SEK14m in June 2019 for offering bonuses on sites including redkings.com, playojo.com and slotsmagic.com.
At the time, SkillOnNet claimed the fine was “disproportionately severe”, citing the need for a clear interpretation of the law on bonusing, which was later provided by the SGA.
The Malta-headquartered firm took aim at the SGA over its conduct in the matter, suggesting that it had been fined despite full consultation with the regulator, and the surety of legal opinion on the matter, claiming that all attempts at a constructive dialogue had been refused.
The decision was appealed first to the Administrative Court and then to the Court of Appeal, both of which rejected the appeal, with the Swedish Supreme Administrative Court upholding these earlier decisions.
SkillOnNet will now be forced to pay the SEK14m fine.