Illegal FIFA World Cup betting popular at workplaces
Police often turn blind eye to office sweepstakes
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So, who do you fancy in tonight's game between Brazil and mighty North Korea, then?
The FIFA World Cup in South Africa has sparked plenty of office sweepstakes and other betting activities across Finland.
Two dozen bottles of wine or a wad of cash for the employee who gets closest in the prediction of the final outcome of the games will add a welcome bit of relief to those tedious summer workdays.
The fact that such betting is often illegal may bring an additional frisson of excitement to the process.
“Fantasy football and sweepstakes organised at workplaces come dangerously close to illegal activities”, says Jouni Laiho, the administrative head of lotteries in the Finnish Police Administration.
“If a worker has to pay for his participation in the sweepstake and the lucky winner is promised a prize of monetary value, the arrangement verges on an offence against the Act on Gaming”, Laiho adds.
According to Laiho, the larger the betting activity is in scale, the more punishable it becomes.
“For example, if an email is circulated at work, in which people are encouraged to take part in the betting activity and the rules of the game are explained, then the operation in question is more obviously of the illegal kind. In such a case someone is clearly organising an unlawful lottery.”
Betting activities in Finland can only be organised by Veikkaus, RAY, and Fintoto. In addition, organisations of public utility can set up raffles with permission from the police.
What if the workers themselves bring, say, a bottle of spirits to the pot? “In principle this does not change things, for the monetary value of a bottle of booze can easily be calculated”, Laiho says.
For a criminal offence against the Act on Gaming, an individual can technically be sentenced to fines or the maximum of six months' imprisonment.
After this summer the sentences will become tougher. The Finnish Parliament has endorsed an amendment to the Act on Gaming that will come into force in the autumn. After that the maximum penalty can be a custodial sentence of up to two years.
Laiho cannot recall a judicial test-case with regard to betting at work. He admits that no enormous resources are spent in monitoring the practice.
“If such practices amount to nothing much more than the World Cup once every four years, there is no real need for particular supervision in this regard.”
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 15.6.2010 - TODAY |
 Illegal FIFA World Cup betting popular at workplaces |
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