A Swedish court has reversed a 2024 ruling by the country’s Gambling Authority on state-run gambling operator Svenska Spel. The Spelinspektionen (SGA) imposed a €9.2 million fine on the gambling operator for skirting responsible gambling obligations. The Administrative Court in Linköping, however, did not find Svenska Spel in violation of its duties or responsibilities.
Key Notes of the Story
- The SGA imposed a penalty following a review into Svenska Spel’s 10 highest-spending consumers during a specific period in 2021. The regulator said Svenska Spel did not take sufficient precautions to warn consumers, despite them showing signs of problem gambling behaviour.
- Svenska Spel appealed against the ruling at the Administrative Court in Linköping, arguing that it had complied with the statutes laid out by the Swedish Gambling Authority.
- The court overturned the SGA’s penalty, citing the legality of the order. In the absence of clearly defined orders, the company’s actions or lack thereof, could not be subjected to legal action.
A Favourable Ruling for Svenska Spel
In March 2024, the Spelinspektionen hit the state-run gambling operator with a €9.2 million fine and a warning for failing to discharge its duty toward responsible gambling practices. The regulator, after reviewing 10 of the biggest spending at Svenska Spel during a specific window in 2021, discovered that players had displayed clear signs of problem gambling.
After reviewing the scenario, the regulator concluded that Svenska Spel had “not taken sufficient measures to protect the players against excessive gambling or help them reduce gambling expenses when there was a clear need to do so.” Svenska Spel at the time had responded to the ruling. Its statement read:
Since the 2021 ruling, Svenska Spel Sport & Casino has further enriched its gambling responsibilities. We are now checking consumers’ income, especially high rollers and people who set high wagering limits. We are also making more spot-proof selections for welfare calls.
The operator had appealed against the SGA’s ruling at the Linköping Administrative Court, which repealed the regulator’s order on June 2, 2025. The operator, in its appeal, said that it discharged its duties lawfully under the Swedish Gambling Act by continuously monitoring players’ gambling patterns and following responsible gambling practices to help players reduce gambling spending when there was a reason to do so. The operator further explained:
Since there are no supplementary and concrete rules in the constitution clarifying which measures should be taken and when, Svenska Spel’s actions, based on legality, must be considered sufficient while evaluating if there was sufficient ground for intervention.
The court, after evaluating Svenska Spel’s argument, said its judgment “stems from the operator’s principle of legality, meaning that a regulatory authority may only take steps supported by the legal order. A violation of the responsible gambling statutes can therefore only lead to penalisation if it is explicitly clear to the individual what they should have done to avoid the penalty, but have failed to do so.”
While the court acknowledged the consumers’ losses during the period in question, attributing the situation to excessive gambling behaviour, it observed Svenska Spel had taken “sufficient precautions” to reduce the scope of harm, under the provisions of the Swedish Gambling Act.
Court Ruling Strictly Based on the “Principle of Legality”
The court stated that while the SGA’s views on Svenska Spel skirting its responsibilities are valid, the operator’s countermeasures against the scenario were “sufficient” according to legal provisions. The official statement from the courtroom read:
“The administrative court understands the Spelinspektionen’s decision to question whether Svenska Spel’s actions in all cases have been sufficient to offset the negative effects of excessive gambling and whether the actions came swiftly enough.
At the time of the review, there were no concrete rules for licensees to follow about the measures to take to fulfil their responsibilities according to the provisions of Chapter 14, Section 1 of the Swedish Gambling Act, and when these measures should be taken.
The evaluation, therefore, of whether it is correct to intervene with a penalty and a warning must be in accordance with the provisions of existing law, which were missing in this case. Hence, the SGA’s decision does not meet the principles of legality.”
The court concluded:
The Administrative Court’s overall findings are that there is no actionable proof that Svenska Spel has failed to discharge its duties of care under Chapter 14, Section 1 of the Gambling Act in a way that it finds legal grounds to intervene, under Chapter 18, Section 12 of the Gambling Act. Therefore, the court has decided to overturn the SGA’s decision.
Responding to the court’s decision, Fredrik Wastenso, CEO and business area manager for Svenska Spel, said:
We are thankful that the Administrative Court’s decision overturns the SGA’s rulings. We appealed because we believed that the penalty is disproportionate to the shortcomings, and there is a greater need for clarity in the interpretation of the law to discharge the duty of care. We believe that the regulator may only take action based on the principles of legality, which the court has also stated.
The judgment is yet to take effect, and the Spelinspektionen can still appeal against the ruling at the Court of Appeal in Jönköping.
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