Thousands of Norwegians believed that they became millionaires playing the lottery. Resignation at the Norsk Tipping peak as a result of a serious error
Eurojackpot Loto ticket. Photo: Bildagentur-Online / Schoening / Alamy / Profimedia
Many Norwegians believed that they became millionaires after receiving a notification from the National Gambling Company, informing them that they had won fabulous amounts – until it turned out to be a mistake, BBC reports, according to News.ro.
“Several thousand” people who have won prizes at Eurojackpot were notified on Friday about winning erroneous amounts, Norsk Tipping said. The company refused to specify the exact number of the affected persons.
Tonje Sagstuen, the general manager of Norsk Tipping, apologized and resigned the next day.
An error in the conversion from Eurocents to Norwegian crowns has led to the “overvaluation” of the prizes, the company said. The amount would have been multiplied by 100, instead of being divided to 100, the local press noted.
Norsk Tipping receives the values of the German prizes to Euro, then conversion to Norwegian crowns.
The correct amounts were updated on Saturday night. The gambling company said no incorrect payments were made.
“I am very sorry that I have disappointed so many people and I understand that they are upset,” Sagstuen said in a statement, adding that all “critics are justified” given the “destruction of trust”.
She said she received several messages from people who intended to go on vacation, renovate their homes or buy an apartment.
“I can only tell them: I'm sorry! But I understand it's a small consolation,” she said.
A woman, in the process of renovation, told Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) that she had a notification informing that she had won 1.2 million crowns ($ 119,000), but that she received only a fraction of this amount.
The Norsk Tipping Board of Directors met on Saturday in an emergency meeting with the Ministry of Culture, which manages the company's activity.
After the meeting, Sagstuen resigned from the position of general manager. She held this position in September 2023 and worked at Norsk Tipping in 2014.
“Here, things have failed in several respects, and my responsibility is completely linked to me,” she said.
She was declared “sad” that she is leaving, but confident in the “improvement processes” that have been implemented.
The Minister of Culture and Equality, Lubna Jaffery, told NRK that “such mistakes should not happen”, especially since Norsk Tipping has the exclusive right to provide gambling services in the country.
This is not the first time Norsk Tipping is in the center of critics.
The company said that “several serious errors have been discovered in recent months and that” has encountered a number of technical problems in the last year. “
He acknowledged that he was “harshly criticized” by the regulatory authority and his clients, and the criticisms “were justified”.
