Judicial victory for Svenska Spel: SEK 100 million fine cancelled
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9 Jun 2025 •
Reading time: 2 minutes This is a resounding victory for Svenska Spel Sport & Casino. The Swedish Administrative Court has overturned the decision of the gaming authority Spelinspektionen, which had imposed a record fine of SEK 100 million (approx. €9.1 million) on the public operator for neglecting players at risk.
The original charges
In November 2023, Spelinspektionen found that Svenska Spel had seriously breached its duty of care in respect of ten very active players between October and December 2021.
The breaches concerned :
- Large-scale spending without sufficient intervention,
- High gambling limits maintained despite risk signals,
- Failure to take action after warning calls or messages,
- Failure to carry out in-depth checks on the income of the players concerned.
However, the Swedish Administrative Court found that the regulator’s analysis was too severe. According to the ruling, the obligations of diligence were not clearly defined at the time of the events. This interpretation completely reverses the basis for the fine imposed by Spelinspektionen.
Reaction from Svenska Spel
Fredrik Wastenson, CEO of Svenska Spel Sport & Casino AB:
“We are pleased that the Administrative Court has upheld our appeal and overturned the Swedish regulator’s decision. We appealed because we believe that the penalty payment is disproportionate to the breaches found and because the interpretation of the duty of care needs to be clarified. We believe that the authority should only take measures that are based on the rule of law, the so-called principle of legality, which the court also declared.”
What next for Spelinspektionen?
From now on, the concept of ‘duty of care’ will have to be defined more precisely. The Gaming Authority has not yet indicated whether it will appeal against the ruling.