Svenska Spel Issues SEK5m To Tackle Gambling Addiction Problems

The online gambling expansion on a global level brings plenty of financial and other various types of benefits for the operators and suppliers primarily. However, the fact that this activity becomes widely available to a multitude of consumers has the other side of the medal as well…

…causing a variety of issues. For that reason, Svenska Spel decided to take the initiative and invest a considerable sum of money in dealing with some of the problematic sides. With the expected grants of SEK5m (around EUR470,280) the establishment plans to investigate and improve several aspects.

Three Main Goals

As highlighted, three projects are expected to receive grants. The first one should set to focus upon the treatment of gambling addiction among elite players in Swedish ice hockey. The second one will look at developing a new internet-based treatment…

…for gambling addiction and the third will investigate the connection between trauma and gambling problems in women. The third one was particularly shocking, as the studies revealed that two-thirds of problem gamblers in Sweden are women. Observing the figures wider…

…the number of individuals with pathological problems with gambling rose 50%, from 31,000 in 2015 to 4,000 in 2018. The experts blame the increased web-based activity for the rising number of addicts. In addition to this, aggressive and excessive ments are also causing problems, as the underage and vulnerable consumers are at higher risk.

Increase Knowledge

Raising awareness and stressing the huge importance of education are some of the most powerful and strongest tools to fight the problems. Commenting on their plans to add more value to the protection of players, Scarlett Roa, Sustainability Manager of Svenska Spel said as follows:

“At Svenska Spel, we strive to offer safe games and gaming environments. To be able to develop our gaming responsibility, it is a prerequisite to the research. Through the Research Council, we want to increase the knowledge and understanding of gambling problems.”

Sara Lindholm, Chairman of the Research Council added:

“It is with great pleasure that we have selected projects that have the potential to contribute to increased knowledge about gambling addiction.”

Fighting Against Match Fixing

Besides the announced project, Svenska Spel revealed that it will be ing forces with Swedish Elite Football (SEF) on teaching young players about avoiding their participation in match-fixing. The operator decided to expand its outreach…

…and team up with the Swedish Handball Federation on educating handball players about the same problems. This shameful activity practically devastates the sports which is why it has to be dealt with by using all the means available.

Source:

“Svenska Spel to Issue Grants for New Research Projects on Problem Gambling”, europeangaming.eu, July 9, 2019.