Hockey club IF Björklöven has been reprimanded for its lottery games not meeting Swedish gambling regulator Spelinspektionen’s technical requirements.
In March 2023, the second-tier club was granted a five-year licence by Spelinspektionen to offer games ‘for public benefit purposes’. These include a car lottery and ‘50/50’ lottery.
During its car lotteries, the club offers fans the opportunity to win a car via a raffle or lottery game, while in 50/50 games half of the prize money is awarded to the lottery winner and the other half to a charity.
However the regulator has since found its games were not formally certified by an accredited licensing body and therefore do meet its technical requirements for physical lotteries.
The watchdog imposed a SEK20,000 (£1,480/€1,758/$1,941) penalty fee and a warning for “serious violations” after IF Björklöven changed the date on one of their draws and an investigation was opened.
Lottery date change triggers investigation
The club had breached regulations by postponing a lottery draw date to sell more tickets. This was flagged to Spelinspektionen and it asked the club to respond to several questions in December 2023.
IF Björklöven confirmed a week later that the lottery date was changed from 24 November 2023 to 28 February 2024 as it had sold too few lottery tickets.
The club’s website announced the change of draw date on 20 November 2023 and offered refunds to individuals that responded.
Spelinspektionen deemed this inappropriate. It also flagged the team had not received formal technical certification to run these physical lotteries, which is in breach of the Gambling Act legislation.
“There was a lack of information on the lotteries and information to players in relevant parts was also not available,” the regulator said.
The club agreed to allow accredited bodies to undertake checks before producing tickets for future draws. Clear information about lotteries and gambling will also be provided on tickets and via the club’s different communications channels, it confirmed.
As it cooperated, the regulator dropped its penalty fee from an initial SEK37,000 – 10% of the club’s turnover.
Spelinspektionen increases consumer protection
Days before, on 30 August, Spelinspektionen tightened its requirements for responsible gambling, insisting operators must now provide detailed action plans on how to protect players from developing risky behaviours.
Via the changes, which are set to be implemented on 1 October, Spelinspektionen will be able to set requirements that will help counter excessive play across operator gaming content.
