Sweden’s gambling regulator, Spelinspektionen, has reported fewer match-fixing cases in 2025 than in previous years. The drop comes despite a match-fixing scandal in esports last year, which led to the Northern Lights team’s suspension. 

Spelinspektionen reported that there were only two reports of suspicions of match-fixing in 2025, though it did not provide details on the cases. This is a drop from five reports in 2024 and twelve in 2023.

Samuel Walberg, coordinator against match-fixing at Spelinspektionen, commented, “The work against match-fixing has worked well during the year, and the collaboration with crime prevention authorities, the sports movement, and the gambling industry within the match-fixing council has gone well.”

“We view the downward trend positively, but the work continues to prevent and detect manipulations. Match-fixers’ methods can be advanced and we cannot be sure that all manipulations will be detected.”

Esports Integrity Issues Remain

While the decline has been welcomed, the case against the Northern Lights team highlights that esports remains a risk for match-fixing. 

The Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) suspended the CS2 team in October over concerns of foul play. All five members of the team are Swedish, including:

• Axel “axelen” Enholm
• Anton “Meinz” Evander
• Oscar “Avoy” Dahlkvist
• Frank “fraaank” Issal
• Alexamder “frigolito” Andersson

After news of the investigation broke, Issal (fraaank) admitted the team had been fixing matches. He stated, “We used to win/lose depending on what we had decided before the match.”

Following the Swedish players’ suspension, ESIC commented, “ESIC remains committed to safeguarding fair play across esports. Where our Codes indicate risk to competitive integrity, interim measures are a vital tool to protect events while due process is followed, consistent with prior public statements and outcomes.”

Last month, Riot Games suspended Korean Valorant star Seungmin “ban” Oh, highlighting the issues that remain in esports. 

Regulators Partnering To Target Fixers

ESIC, like Spelinspektionen, has been focusing on reducing match-fixing. The agency signed up several betting partners last year in an effort to combat integrity issues, including Stake and Rollbit, in November. 

Spelinspektionen introduced new rules in 2024, which require licensed betting companies to report suspicions of match-fixing. 

It received four reports of suspicions, but did not add these to its figure, as it says it lacks previous figures to make a comparison. 

One of the cases was the same as reported by an integrity organization. It did not mention whether this was the esports case flagged by Swedish Elitserien, the country’s esports league. 

The league said it has “zero tolerance for match-fixing and prioritizes the integrity of the competition.”