The National Police Board of Finland Investigates ENCE and iGame
The Finnish Electronic Sports Federation (SEUL) has reported ENCE and iGame to the National Police Board of Finland for their sponsorship practices. SEUL raised concerns about the organizations’ sponsors, which include gambling corporations.
iGame is a large gambling corporation based in Malta that also owns a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team of the same name. On the other hand, ENCE is sponsored by Nordic Bet, a Swedish gambling company. However, according to Finnish law, only Veikkaus, a state-owned gambling company, has the right to conduct gambling and be promoted in Finland. Profits from such government-owned companies are used for charitable causes or public works.
Advertising for non-authorized companies is illegal in Finland. Tommi “lurppis” Kovannen, co-owner of ENCE, stated that Nordic Bet is not promoted within Finland or in the Finnish language, only in English and outside of Finland. Previously, Jokerit, a Finnish hockey team, was fined €100,000 for being sponsored by Nordic Bet. Kovannen also suggested that SEUL’s report about ENCE was merely a ploy to gain attention.
While history indicates that ENCE may be violating the law, their claim of marketing towards non-Finns might make their association with Nordic Bet permissible. Unlike traditional sports with a strong sense of patriotism tied to a specific city and country, esports does not have the same level of nationalist identity, which may support ENCE’s argument.
Will these teams face penalties? How do you feel about this Finnish law? Share your thoughts in the comment section or on Twitter @GAMURScom.
The original report can be found here.
Photo credit: Credit.com