The Swedish Gambling Authority, also known as Lotteriinspektionen, was criticized by the Association of Online Gambling Operators because of the inadequate actions taken towards reinstallation of its members’ apps on country’s App Store. As a result, the help of the Swedish gambling regulators was required for the reinstallation procedure to be completed.
Currently, the apps of a number of popular operators such as William Hill, bet365, Betfair, Betsson and Unibet are not available for download by Sweden-based users.
A few days ago, they were removed from the Swedish store of Apple. The reason for the removal was a letter, submitted by the Swedish gambling regulator. The afore-mentioned letter contained information about particular gambling operators that are suspected of violating the rules and offering illegal forms of gambling activities on the territory of the country.
However, the accusations of being involved in providing illegal gambling activities made the affected parties really discontent. Actually, prominent operators such as Unibet and Betfair were also among the ones suspected in being available on the gray markets but people familiar with the matter hurried up to disapprove of that statement and reminded that both of them provide gambling services compatible with the requirements of the European gambling regulators, which granted them licenses.
Gustaf Hoffstedt, the General Secretary of the Association of Online Gambling Operators, commented on the delicate matter and said that basically, the arguments of the Swedish regulator do not hold water. He also added that the regulator has to put some efforts into reinstallation process completion as this would be highly appreciated.
It remains a secret whether the apps will be available to users once the issues are solved. In point of fact, representatives of the Swedish regulator announced that they did not demand Apple to remove the above-mentioned apps and it was their decision. Yet, they revealed that the communication between the two sides was not effective enough.
Last week, the Association received a letter submitted by Hakan Hallstedt, the General Director of the regulator. The letter contained an explanation aimed at making it clear that the regulator is not the only institution to blame for the unpleasant situation.
Mr. Hallstedt put emphasis on the fact that the Gambling Authority is responsible for making decisions and monitoring the Swedish gambling market but this did not automatically mean that its members had the final say on the apps-related issue.
