Kindred Group: Swedish Government’s Gambling Policy Contradicts Parliament

Kindred Group has submitted its opinion on the memorandum on prolonging the validity on enhanced player protections as a result of Covid-19.

Kindred highlights in its opinion that the Swedish government, seven months after the restrictions were first suggested, has not accounted for any facts that supports the need for the restrictions. Nor have they accounted for any findings that supports their assumptions. Furthermore, Kindred highlights that the government has not taken any measures to induce Swedish gambling customers to choose licensed operators instead of unlicensed. Kindred also points out that the statements made by the government about unlicensed operators being illegal are not correct, which the government knew already in 2018 when the Gambling Act was handed over to the Parliament.

”During these seven months that the restrictions have been in place, the Swedish government have not been taking any measures to determine the level of channelisation, they have not accounted for any measures against unlicensed operators in Sweden, and they cannot present any notable connections between the pandemic and  increased problem gambling in Sweden at licensed Swedish operators. What we can see is a lower channelisation and an increased activity at unlicensed operators with zero consumer protection. That is a step in the wrong direction, and it is not the gambling policy decided by the Swedish Parliament, says Henrik Tjärnström, CEO Kindred Group.