A four-year investigation in Finland has potentially uncovered a corruption ring within the country’s elite floorball competition.
Conducted by the Finnish Sports Ethics Centre (SUEK) with support from Veikkaus, Finland’s state-owned gambling operator, the probe analysed suspicious betting patterns on events under the mandate of the Finnish Floorball Federation.
Now submitted to the Federation for further review, the investigation went over a pool of 114 players and club officials who have accumulated more than a thousand bets on both the F-League and Inssi-Divari floorball competitions from 2021 to 2025.
On par with common sports principles, professional staff – especially players and officials – are barred from betting on their sport. However, SUEK reported that it has identified 10 unnamed individuals of particular interest, whose roles span from players to sports directors and managers.
The report concluded that these 10 persons are responsible for 80% of the total number of betting violations, with wagers being placed on their own teams – including losses. According to SUEK, one of those individuals racked up 184 separate bets totalling more than €8,600.
With the investigation now in the hands of the Finnish Floorball Federation, Jouko Ikonen, Head of SUEK Investigation, commented: “The large number of people who placed bets and the number of bets placed indicate that the illegal activity has been extensive and long-lasting.
“Based on the information provided by Veikkaus, there has also been reason to suspect that one F-League player used his own game account as well as the game account of a person in his close circle to place bets of significant value in euros. However, SUEK’s powers are not sufficient to investigate the matter.”
Other allegations include that insider information about match lineups has been shared on two separate occasions – the F-League match between Classic and SPV earlier this year, and a Floorball World Cup match between Finland and Norway in 2024.
In the case of the World Cup match, compliance rules dictate that lineups for World Cup competitions must be announced an hour before each game, and that such information is available earlier only to the national team itself.
Veikkaus reported “abnormal” betting behaviour given the circumstances revolving around that specific match, with bets being made before the lineup announcements.
All people interviewed by SUEK in relation to Veikkaus’ findings reportedly denied sharing any information whatsoever.
“SUEK’s rights and possibilities to use more comprehensive investigative methods in such violations are not possible,” Ikonen said, subtly giving the Finnish Floorball Federation a potential course of action.
“Examining phones or other communication devices would be one way to clarify suspicions about sharing inside information.”
As for the Classic-SPV game, SUEK said that a press release about the match conditions was sent earlier than required, which could be attributed to a simple human error and that further actions might not be required – but the final decision is now in the hands of the Finnish Floorball Federation.
Scrutiny on the integrity of Finland’s gambling sector is certain to increase over the next 12 months as the country prepares to transition from the monopoly Veikkaus model to a licensed market in 2027.
Viktor Kayed
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