Swedish re-regulation facing delay

Sweden’s plans to push ahead with a re-regulation of its online gambling market look set to be delayed after a senior politician said reforms would have to be put on hold.

In a message delivered at yesterday’s Nya Spel-Sverige conference, minister for public administration Ardalan Shekarabi said a national consultation on gambling regulation would have to be delayed until after its Spring Budget has been agreed, which is expected to be in April.

Shekarabi also discussed regulatory aspects that would require consideration prior to any debate, in particular the country’s attitudes to problem gambling and gambling advertising in the country.

Gambling advertising, particularly from unlicensed operators, has proven to be a particularly contentious subject and last week the Lotteriinspektionen said that it had written to the organisers of Sweden motor racing event Rally Sweden after one of its competitors displayed casino operator Leo Vegas’ logo on its car.

Shekarabi warned that future legislation in the country would likely include a clampdown on gambling-related advertising, and that discussions would need to be had regarding the market’s potential size.

Sweden had pledged to accelerate plans to reform its gambling regulations after the European Commission referred the country to the European Court of Justice in October last year, arguing the status quo in the country to be “non-compliant”, although a new framework is not expected to go live until 2019.

Reforms would bring an end to Svenska Spel’s monopoly in the country with Sweden thought to favour a Danish-style licensing framework, with operators such as Unibet and Paf having previously expressed interest in a similar system in the Swedish market.