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The Finnish Center for Integrity in Sports (SUEK) predicts that reforming the country’s gambling law and opening up licensing for online betting will increase sporting event manipulation.
SUEK predicted this in the “national competitive manipulation situation” update, published with the help of members of the national platform against manipulation of sports competitions on December 2.
It states that to counter the growing risk, “legislation needs to be reviewed, international agreements ratified, and barriers to information exchange removed”.
“In Finland, there is a need to create legislation related to sports fraud, so that the roles, powers and resources of the authorities ensure the possibility, for example, of obtaining all the necessary information from licence holders for criminal investigation and prosecution,” according to SUEK.
The risk of manipulation in Finnish sports is still low “as a whole”, but this is due to a relatively low amount being bet on most sports compared with other jurisdictions, according to SUEK.
“The biggest risks are in the biggest sports, especially teams in the lower league levels,” according to the update.
Jouko Ikonen, SUEK’s chief investigative officer, said: “Considering the whole, the situation of competition manipulation is good for us.
“However, all sports players must still be aware of the threat of competition manipulation, as well as the related sport-specific characteristics, countermeasures and their own responsibility,” he said.
Ikonen also reiterated that all suspected manipulation should “always be reported” to ensure “everyone bears their responsibility for combating the phenomenon”.
SUEK serves as the chair and secretariat of the national platform against manipulation of sports, with other members including the Ministry of Education and Culture, the National Police Board, the Prosecutor's Office, the Finnish Olympic Committee and several other Finnish sports associations.
Finland’s government has set the target of opening its licensed gambling market in July 2026.
However, some expect a delay of at least a few months, predicting that the deadline will slip back to the originally planned date of January 1, 2027.
