Unibet and SEF to Offer Safer Gambling Training Courses

An ongoing collaboration between Unibet and Swedish Elite Football (SEF) will see online training courses in player responsibility and safer gambling delivered to one thousand active professional soccer players and coaches.

Education to Soccer Players and Coaches

The training that will be delivered in partnership with SEF and as part of the sponsorship deal between Unibet and the two soccer leagues in Sweden, Allsvenskan, and Superettan, will further deepen the collaboration between Unibet and SEF, which recently saw the launch of a match-fixing course.

Commenting on the announcement, Unibet Sweden country manager Philip Lagström outlined the partnership’s previous efforts to “fight match-fixing and harmful gambling,” noting the new training is “only one example” of the ongoing work with SEF that will continue “throughout the contract period.”

“For us, it is very important to share and contribute our knowledge through this sponsorship. Unibet wants a sustainable gambling industry and our ambition is to reach zero per cent revenue derived from harmful gambling by 2023.”

Philip Lagström, Country Manager, Unibet Sweden

SEF and its main partner Kindred Group-owned Unibet will work with all 32 male elite soccer clubs participating in Allsvenskan and Superettan leagues as soon as the regular season ends to provide players and coaches with safer gambling education, while the Integrity Officer at each club will make sure the training is delivered.

SEF League Integrity Officer Anders Wikström noted that gambling can have a detrimental effect on some people in the society and within the athletic environment, an issue SEF and its partner Unibet are looking to address via the training course, seeking to provide “an additional responsible gambling tool.”

Self-Assessment Questions

Wikström then continued by giving some details about the online training as part of which each participant will be answering certain questions to self-assess the current state of gambling behavior and gain an insight into the importance of the measure.

“The training also contains contact information for those who feel that they might be in a harmful situation, which provides us with reassurance.”

Anders Wikström, League Integrity Officer, SEF

As a key element of Unibet’s partnership with SEF and its parent’s sustainability strategy, the player responsibility and safer gambling online training courses aim to deliver invaluable education to one thousand soccer professional players and coaches to help them avoid falling into the trap of problem gambling.

In the summer, Unibet was fined by the New South Wales (NSW) regulator, the Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority (ILGA), for offering gambling inducements and breaching the NSW Betting and Racing Act 1998. For the violations, Unibet had to pay a fine of $36,000.