At the World Lottery Association’s conference in Rhodes last week, Svenska Spel, the state run Swedish gambling monopoly was recognized last week for its dedication to responsible gambling. Anders Hagg, the acting CEO of Svenska Spel, said he was thrilled to receive acknowledgment for the profound investment the firm has made in the field. At the same time, Anders Borg, Sweden's Finance Minister, said he was very proud of the company.

The award was established to encourage the industry’s work with responsible gaming, during the WLA's previous conference in Singapore in 2006. The prize is called the WLA Award for Responsible Gaming Excellence, and it is given to the company that reflects the ‘best practice’ activity within the realm of responsible gaming.

This year’s prize was announced by WLA president Arch Gleason and the jury’s chairman, Mike Randall, saying that it would go to Svenska Spel which was seen as the company that overall showed first class behavior in the area of responsible gaming. In addition, Svenska Spel received first prize for having the best training programmed in the subcategory of gaming agent/retailer.

The jury was made up of several experts in the area of Corporate Social Responsibility. They were all from other industries such as banking and trade and industry.

While accepting the award for Svenska Spel, CEO Hagg said that the company was very much pleased as well as being proud. He said that a lot of gaming companies around the world have, in recent years, invested a lot of resources developing gaming responsibility programs. He added that therefore competition for the prize has been tough.

The chairwoman of Svenska Spel, Margareta Winberg, says that the brief they received from the government clearly indicates their social responsibility as being the main purpose of Svenska Spel’s operation. She adds that this is why the company obviously feels great that independent international experts have verified that they are currently leading in the development in this important area. She says that her company sees it as being a major recognition and an incentive for them to become even better.

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