European gambling companies are becoming increasingly drawn to developments in Finland, with a regulated market launch expected in 2027 – but with two years left to go concerns are already being raised from other quarters.

The Finnish government’s National Sports Council has published a report examining the sports integrity implications of a market launch. The council, a panel of experts advising the Finnish government on sports matters, expects a noticeable increase in match manipulation.

This is largely due to the council expecting surveillance capabilities to be weakened by the regulatory transition from the current monopoly on legal sports betting held by Veikkaus Oy to a multi-licence system.

Although the report states that the basic conditions of Finnish sports integrity protection are decent, it has already identified an increase in match manipulation threats in recent years, citing the number of notifications received by the Finnish Centre for Integrity in Sports (FINCS).

One particular figure cited is that the number of competition manipulation notifications received by SUEX rose from under 20 to over 60 in 2023, with 71 notifications recorded in 2024 alone. An influx of new legal betting operators post-2027 is expected to further pile on to this.

Authorities feel that football and ice hockey are the two sports most at risk of sports manipulation in Finland, unsurprising given that these are the two most widely viewed and participated in sports in the country, and therefore the two most likely bet on, alongside horse sports, following the 2027 market launch.

Finland needs another look at its laws

As stated above, the report states that Finland’s sports integrity framework is in generally good condition, but it has identified some areas for improvement. For one thing, the framework will need expanding to include sports betting in general.

Since betting has been excluded from the monopoly held by Veikkaus for several decades, there hasn’t been much of a need for the country’s sports laws to factor it in. For the most part, the report notes that Finnish sports integrity laws have focused on anti-doping.

The rise in targeting of Finland by illegal offshore operators, which has prompted the forthcoming regulated market launch, has placed more of an emphasis on the need for Finnish laws to factor in the prospect of sports manipulation. The report has recommended the introduction of ‘sports fraud’ as a concept within Finnish legislation.

Beyond legal changes, the Council has recommended that the government draws up a long-term plan around funding for ethical issues in sport. This is largely to compensate for the fact Finnish sports ethics resources have focused on anti-doping for years, requiring a serious re-allocation of resources to help betting-related activities catch up.

Other recommendations include clarifying FINCS’ legal status as a regulatory overseer of sports integrity issues, creating a plan for the FINICS and the Ministry of Education and Culture to take on a more institutional and systemic approach, and drafting a national operational model including the government and regulators to deal with sports integrity.

Learning from others

The report also takes note of developments in other markets, both well established regulated markets and ones which have undergone similar regulatory transitions to that which Finland is about to embark on.

An interesting comparison is with Sweden, which underwent a transition from a monopoly held by the state-owned Svenska Spel to a multi-licence one in 2019. This transition came with a number of restrictions, particularly on iCasino but also on betting.

Notable provisions around integrity in Sweden included a ban on betting on youth matches, a common law throughout various gambling jurisdictions. Though not mentioned in the report, in Germany some companies have stopped offering bets on amateur sports due to these tournaments being more susceptible to match manipulation.

Finland taking lessons from Sweden is interesting not just due to the regulatory transitions being similar (from monopoly to multi-licence) but also due to both countries facing issues with channelisation.

This has been the primary motivation behind Finland’s decision to abandon its monopoly, a decision which even has the support of Veikkaus, despite the company being set to lose its exclusive rights to sports betting – though it will retain a monopoly over land-based casinos and the lottery.

In addition to Sweden, the report has also highlighted Australia and the UK as case studies. Sport Integrity Australia (SIA) is cited as a successful example, fulfilling a similar role to Finland’s FINICS but with greater legislative backing.

Regardless, the report demonstrates one thing – that Finland’s regulatory transition is not going to be an easy process, with various factors to consider from player protection to sports integrity to the extent of marketing restrictions, and how each can impact on the other.