New theory about the odds in Björklöven’s match

“They are the only ones who can answer why”

Of: Andreas Käck

Published: December 15, 2020 at 6:27 p.m.

Photo: JOHAN LÖF / BILDBYRÅN

A new theory about the mysterious odds in the match between Björklöven and Mora stands out.

Bet365 is said to be the only one who can answer why the odds looked the way they were.

But when Sportbladet contacts the gaming company in question, they put the lid on.

Monday’s Allsvenskan hockey game between Björklöven and Mora has been surrounded by suspicions of match-fixing. Several betting companies, including the state-run Svenska Spel, stopped the possibility of playing the match live after they “noticed differences in the odds that raise suspicions that allow questioning of sports integrity.”

According to consistent information, it was the deviation of the odds movements at Bet365 that caused other betting companies to act.

On Twitter, increase now and theory that the chaos could have arisen from a technically incorrect alternative, a human error, which in that case would indicate that nothing criminal has happened.

The theory, which the signature “@DimmanJr” raises, is that the odds of Björklöven and Mora were, for some reason, ruled out a minute before the start of the match. That is, Björklöven got Mora’s odds and vice versa.

It’s possible, says Unibet Sweden manager Per Carlander.

– That can definitely be true. That is perfectly reasonable. The only ones who can answer why the odds move turned out the way it did is Bet365, he says.

No statements

On Tuesday, Sportbladet sought out several high-ranking employees at Bet365 and through regular customer support attempted to contact the betting company. However, to no avail.

There is information on Twitter that Bet365 has paid winnings on bets placed before the start of the match, the so-called “pre-game bets”.

When Sportbladet finally gets in touch with a Bet365 employee via live chat, we get no response as to whether or not it’s true.

“I have no comment unfortunately”, write one.

“Sometimes mistakes happen”

According to Carlander at Unibet again:

– All betting companies have different security devices built into their systems and manual checks are also performed for the odds. But you have to remember that most game companies offer live games in a couple hundred thousand games a year, so of course mistakes do happen sometimes. There are people involved.

If it is true that Bet365 has paid winnings for bets made before the start of the match, does this indicate that they themselves do not suspect that the match may have been tampered with?

– It depends, all gaming companies have different rules. But normally yes, if you suspect a match has been fixed, wait to pay the money.

– I think the fact that the party’s image was as it was has contributed to so much speculation. But I think you have to be careful not to overdo it too much and say things until you have all the facts on the table.

Published: December 15, 2020 at 6:27 p.m.

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