Swedish Court of Appeal rejects Lottoland subsidiary’s fine appeal

Lottoland was initially fined SEK700,000 (£52,423/€65,492/$73,304) and issued an official warning by Spelinspektionen following breaches to Sweden’s laws on lottery betting more than two years ago.

The regulator judged that ULS offered players the chance to bet on lottery outcomes from the state-run lottery Svenska Spel without the operator’s permission.

Svenska Spel holds the exclusive right to market lottery games in Sweden, including the Eurojackpot game which ULS had been offering outcomes for via its Lottoland.se site.

After initially receiving the fine in 2019, Lottoland initially took the matter to the Swedish Administrative Court in Linköping, which also rejected the appeal.

The Administrative Court ruled that not only had ULS offered betting on the outcome of lottery draws without the consent of Svenska Spel, the company also presented this in a way that suggested it organised these draws itself.

After losing this initial appeal, the operator took the matter further, to the Court of Appeal. However, it also reaffirmed Spelinspektionen’s initial ruling.

The Court of Appeal also concluded that ULS offered additional lottery games in the form of digital scratchcards, for which it does not hold the appropriate licence.

Spelinspektionen recently ordered Cashalot operator Indigo Soft to withdraw from the Swedish market after determining the company was targeting Swedish players without a licence.