Official Statement from Ladbrokes
The Swedish National Gambling Consultation released a set of recommendations to
the Swedish government concerning the continued operation of the state land and
online casino gambling monopoly. Those recommendations have now lit a fire in
the internet gambling industry and have angered many of the companies and
organizations pushing for a free and open Swedish gambling market. Several
online casinos have spoken out against the Consultation’s recommendation that
only sportbetting open to competition – Ladbrokes is the latest company to issue
a statement of strong reproach.
Ladbrokes’ statement makes a very interesting point that hasn’t really been
covered in the previous media attention. The company notes that the
recommendations not only suggest that the foreign online casinos have access
only to sportsbetting, but the recommendations also inadvertently suggest the
expansion of the current state run monopoly to include new sectors of the
market. The Swedish government is basically making desperate attempts to appease
its obligations as a part of the EU while still operating a profitable state
monopoly – and the Ladbrokes land and online casino gambling group was more than
willing to point out that fact.
Ladbrokes also goes on to note that the assertions that online casino, poker,
and bingo are safer with a state monopoly are bunk – the foreign EU gambling
companies operate under tight restrictions and regulations…and the Swedish
government would have the right to impose further regulations on the market if
there was a concern about player safety. Basically, the Ladbrokes statement
pointed out that the recommendations were still not in line with EU free trade
policies and the Swedish government is still not willing to abandon its
profitable state monopoly – at least not until the European Court of Justice
steps into the situation. |