Kärrbrink said that it had become evident that his ideas on how Svenska Spel should operate differ from that of its owner. "Therefore I have agreed with the board of directors that the best course of action is for them to find a replacement for me," he added.
Svenska Spel’s recently appointed Chairwoman, Margareta Winberg, said that she understood Kärrbrink’s decision. "If you do not share the owner's basic attitude towards how the company should be operated, obviously you are not able to run that company," she said. Winberg, a former Social Democratic Deputy Prime Minister, was appointed to her position earlier this month, and it was widely accepted that her views differed significantly from those of Kärrbrink.
Hours before Kärrbrink’s resignation, the Swedish newspaper, Svenska Dagbladet, published an interview with Winberg in which she openly criticised Svenska Spel’s approach to gambling. "Thus far, Svenska Spel’s advertising has mostly focused on promoting new games, which is a way of telling people to gamble more," said Winberg. "Svenska Spel has done a bad job when it comes to social responsibility."
Instead, she suggests that Svenska Spel take a similar approach to that of the country’s alcohol monopoly, whose advertising focuses on deterring consumers from drinking rather than promoting the range of products available.