Sweden to Introduce New Anti-Match-Fixing Measures from July 1

Swedish lawmakers have unveiled new measures to reduce match-fixing and maintain the integrity of sports betting. Speaking at a joint press conference, the country’s financial markets minister, Niklas Wykman and Spelinspektionen’s director general, Camilla Rosenberg, said that the new measures would come into force on July 1, 2024.

Under the current system, sports leagues, betting operators and regulators may individually identify potential instances of match-fixing. However, the new information-sharing system would allow these bodies to ground their suspicions in reality and bolster their capabilities to spot and tackle betting fraud.

According to Wykman and Rosenberg, the new rules will require sports federations, gambling operators and the Swedish gambling regulator (Spelinspektionen) to share information about suspicious cases on a common platform. The platform will be established by the Spelinspektionen and will provide authorities with a place to exchange information, identify match-fixing cases and plan appropriate measures. 

Athletes Should Not Be Criminals’ Pawns

According to the Swedish authorities, this new measure comes in response to the rapid proliferation of sports corruption in Sweden. Through bribery, blackmail and threats, criminal actors are able to manipulate the outcomes of matches and capitalize on fraudulent wagers. In addition to defrauding operators, such criminals are also able to launder criminal proceeds.

Wykman and Rosenberg were firm that “athletes should not be pawns in the activities of organized crime.” Because of that, they reiterated their commitment to cracking down on match-fixing and protecting the sports and sports betting sectors from fraud.

This new approach was hinted at earlier this year and has the support of BOS, a Swedish trade association that represents 18 prominent gambling companies in the Swedish market.

According to BOS, no regular consumers want to place their wagers on a corrupt market. The body said that this highlights the importance of maintaining a fraud-free betting market that players can trust.

In its address, BOS also stressed the significance of channelization in the gaming market, urging the government to uphold the target of at least 90% channelization to licensed gambling operators.

In other news, ATG’s chief executive officer recently suggested that the government might be inclined to amend the gross gaming revenue tax hike proposal. For context, the government wishes to boost the tax rate from 18% to 22% effective in July.