Spelinspektionen has warned ATG and Polar for breaching Sweden’s sports betting regulations.

Sweden.- The national gambling regulator Spelinspektionen has issued warnings to AB Trav och Galopp (ATG) and Polar Limited for breaches of sports betting regulations. 

Both breaches were self-reported by the gaming operators themselves, and in both cases the Swedish gambling regulator issued a warning but no penalty fee.

In the case of ATG, it breached Sweden’s prohibition of accepting bets on the performance of athletes aged under 18. ATG reported to Spelinspektionen that it had accepted bets on a horse ridden by a jockey aged under 18.

ATG gave the regulator all details of the breach and said it had taken measures to prevent customers from being able to bet on underage sports competitors in the future. 

Spelinspektionen said the error was not excusable and issued an official warning, but it said there was no evidence of systematic failures. 

In Polar’s case, it breached Sweden’s prohibition of bets on fouls that lead to penalties, bookings or red cards in-play sports betting. It told Spelinspektionen that its Coolbet.com site had offered bets on in-match events during Sweden’s Fifa World Cup football qualifier against Georgia on March 25.

Polar said the bets were offered by mistake through human error. It said that wagers were cancelled and stakes returned.

Again, Spelinspektionen said it found no evidence of systematic defects in the operator’s procedures, but it said it was neither minor nor excusable so issued a warning.

ATG: give lighter sanctions to operators who admit mistakes

Last month, the CEO of ATG called for the regulator to give lighter sanctions to operators who admit wrongdoing.

Hasse Lord Skarplöth noted that out of 46 interventions from Spelinspektionen, in the last two years, four corresponded to ATG.

They included recent sanctions for breaching rules on illegal bonus offers and Sweden’s temporary cap on online casino deposits.

Skarplöth said that ATG had been sanctioned for mistakes that it had voluntarily reported to the regulator of its own accord, while other operators had avoided reporting their failings and even appealed against sanctions when they were issued.