Problems with manipulated matches, match fixing, have hit the sport and especially football more frequently in recent times. Ardalan Shekarabi, Minister of Social Security, says he is not surprised by the problem.
- In the name of honesty, what surprised me the first day I was given responsibility for the gaming issues as a minister is that it has not been regulated before, he says and asks:
- How can the Swedish state for two decades have accepted that we have lots of gaming companies that operate against Sweden without following Swedish law. It was more that surprised me. Organized crime exists in all societies, but the state's duty is to show action against that type of crime - now we have the tools in place.
He is referring to the new gaming law, which aims to regulate the gaming market in Sweden and which will thus counteract match fixing.
- I see match fixing as a serious threat not only to Swedish sport but also to the confidence in our society. I mean if we get a development where people can't be sure that elite matches in football or hockey are rigged then we have serious problems.
At the same time, the number of investigations on match fixing has been a record number this year.
- It may be related to the consciousness that we are working more on these issues. This does not mean that there have been 45 cases of match fixing, but we have investigated 45 cases, says the Swedish Football Association's general secretary Håkan Sjöstrand.
A potential explanation may be that the Swedish gaming market and Swedish football are not the same. For example, you can play on Swedish matches abroad and from there place large sums on different types of gaming objects.
Isn't there a need for greater international cooperation to tackle the problem?
- We have to start here and make sure that all the companies that operate against the Swedish gaming market comply with the law and that we have regulations that put a stop to, for example, gambling on yellow cards, rule violations, gambling on minors - that's the important thing, says Shekarabi and continues:
- The next step is to intensify work internationally.