World Lottery Association names Swedish gambling monopoly as tops in responsible gaming practice. The Swedish state-owned gambling monopoly Svenska Spel was recognised for its commitment to responsible gambling at the World Lottery Association’s conference in Rhodes last week. Svenska Spel’s acting CEO Anders Hägg said he was delighted to receive recognition for the heavy investment the firm has made in the field, whilst Sweden’s Finance Minister Anders Borg said he was proud of the company.
The award was established during the WLA’s previous conference in Singapore in 2006, to encourage the industry’s work with responsible gaming. The prize – the WLA Award for Responsible Gaming Excellence – is awarded to the company that represents ‘best practice’ within the area of responsible gaming.
WLA president Arch Gleason and the jury’s chairman, Mike Randall, announced that the prize this year would go to Svenska Spel which “….overall shows first class behaviour in the area of responsible gaming.” Svenska Spel also won first prize for the best training programme in the gaming agent/retailer sub-category.
The jury consisted of a group of experts in Corporate Social Responsibility, all from other industries such as banking and trade and industry.
Accepting the award, Hägg said, ”We are of course incredibly pleased and proud, a lot of gaming companies around the world have, in recent years, invested a lot in developing gaming responsibility programmes, so competition for this prize has been tough.”
Svenska Spel’s Chairwoman, Margareta Winberg, said:” Our brief from the government clearly points out social responsibility as the main purpose of Svenska Spel’s operation. Which is why it obviously feels great that independent international experts have verified that we are currently leading the development in this important area. It is a major recognition and an incentive for us to become even better.”
