Tonje Sagstuen resigns after Norway lottery mistake tells thousands they had won

Tonje Sagstuen, the CEO of Norway’s state-owned gambling operator, Norsk Tipping, has resigned following a serious, embarrassing error that informed thousands of Norwegians that they had won life-changing amounts. 

Players of the EuroJackpot draw were informed they had won significant cash prizes in the lottery draw, as the inflated sums were displayed on the company’s website and app on Friday (June 27).

Once the huge error was identified, the information was removed, and Norsk Tipping confirmed that no payouts had been made.

Norsk Tipping confirmed in a translated statement that: “Several thousand customers were notified of incorrectly high prizes and the mistake has prompted the resignation of the company’s chief executive (Tonje Sagstuen).”

The operator is said to receive prize amounts in euros from Germany, which are then converted to kroner, Norway’s currency.

“It is during this conversion that a manual error has been made in the code that is entered into our game engine,” continued the statement. 

“The amount has been multiplied by 100, instead of being divided by 100.”

Tonje Sagstuen has paid for the high-profile mistake with her job, but it is the latest incident to have caused difficulty for the company over the last 12 months. 

While she was not directly responsible for the incident, it happened under her remit, leading to her resignation after talks with the Norsk Tipping board.

A notable inclusion in the company’s statement confirmed this error was not a technical mistake, underlining that it was a manual one.

“As a manager, it has been my responsibility to handle the mistakes that have occurred,” she said.

The controversial mistake has led to criticism from lottery players who have been misled, as well as the European Nordic country’s lottery regulator and the Ministry of Culture. 

On Saturday, an emergency meeting was held with the ministry to explain what had happened and the next steps. 

A follow-up meeting has been scheduled with the regulator to determine if Norsk Tiping has broken the law. 

In its statement, the body confirmed: “This is a serious matter, which is clearly harmful to Norsk Tipping. Our job is to assess whether what has happened is a violation of the Gambling Act.” 

Now, imagine the short-lived joy of the ordinary Norwegian citizens who believed their lucky moment had arrived. 

There were 47,000 winners in Friday’s draw, but several thousand were incorrectly notified about the amounts they had won.

NRK reported on a couple from Herøy who had seemingly won 1.2 million kroner ($119,000), while another was thinking of how to spend a 1.9 million kroner ($189,000) jackpot, only for the cruel twist of fate and reality to unfold. 

Image credit: NT

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