Spelinspektionen, the Swedish gambling authority, has issued its first two bans of 2024 to companies accused of illegally providing gambling in the country.
True Polygon Entertainment Limited and Smein Hosting NV have been accused by the gambling authority of providing gambling in Sweden without the necessary licence and have been banned as a result.
Investigations found that True Polygon Entertainment’s CSGOBIG website or their affiliates, as well as Smein Hosting’s websites under the Gamdom brand or their affiliates, were found to have marketing in Swedish.
Spelinspektionen stated that in both cases, it was not discovered that Swedish consumers would be prevented from registering and creating an account on the websites in question.
The authority noted that both True Polygon Entertainment and Smein Hosting have been given an opportunity to make a statement, but it has yet to receive a response from either company.
Last month, Spelinspektionen held discussions with the Swedish gambling industry’s national organisation, SPER, and with the Swedish Trade Association for Online Gambling, Branschföreningen för Onlinespel, about illegal gambling and how collaborative work can be done to combat it.
Discussions on how to combat the illegal market in Sweden come as Regeringskansliet, the Swedish government, plans to increase the national gambling tax from 18 per cent to 22 per cent from July 1, 2024, raising an additional SEK 540m (£39.4m) per year.
The proposal is expected to be put forth before the Riksdag for approval this spring, and Regeringskansliet hopes that by increasing the gambling tax, a channelisation target of 90 per cent can be achieved with little negative impact on the legal market.