Finnish police to scrutinise gambling advertising at WRC race
National Police Board confirms beefed-up supervision of Finland stop on the World Rally Championship with threat of fines looming
Finland’s National Polce Board (NPB) is set to scrutinise the upcoming World Rally Championship for unlicensed operator advertising.
The event, which will run from 3 August to 6 August in the country, will be monitored by police to prevent firms from breaching existing monopoly rules in the market.
Under Finnish regulation, only Veikkaus holds the right to advertise in the market as the monopoly operator.
The NPB said it had informed the event organisers of its supervision and requested the information be passed on to teams, drivers and affiliated third parties.
It also said it will monitor potential errant advertising along the rally route and any promotions related to the event.
In addition, the body has requested that all logos and branding involving foreign gambling firms be removed or hidden ahead of the competition.
The NPB noted it can impose a fine of between €10,000 and €5m, based on operators’ GGR for breaching the rules on advertising.
Johanna Syväterä, senior advisor at the NPB, said: “The primary purpose of enhanced supervision is to prevent unlawful marketing, effectively, in advance.
“We hope that informing the event participants in advance will suffice as a preventive measure so that no unlawful marketing occurs at the event. If, for some reason, this is not the case, we are prepared to act quickly on this.”
Antti Koivula, legal advisor at Legal Gaming Attorneys at Law, told EGR the latest police campaign was to be expected.
He said: “The NPB’s campaign makes perfect sense and came as no surprise.
“They have, for years, paid special attention to illegal gambling marketing that takes place in major events organised in Finland, as well as to the illegal use of Finnish sports stars in marketing. The WRC [World Rally Championship] Finland provides the NPB with a perfect opportunity to do both.”