The French government ordered the case against Petter Nylander, CEO of gaming firm Unibet, to be dropped amid a backlash of criticism from the European Commission and Swedish politicians.

A spokesperson from the budget ministry in Paris stated that it was not a matter between the state and Unibet, and said that the Française des Jeux and PMU would be told to drop their complaint.

A spokesperson for Charlie McCreevy, the internal market commissioner said: "They may have arrested an innocent man," while Christofer Fjellner, a Swedish member of the European parliament, said: "A worrying fact is that the European arrest warrant, an instrument put in place to combat terrorism and organised crime, is now used by the French government to punish those who fight French protectionism.

"What will be the next sector to be threatened with French arrests? The French are turning the European arrest warrant into a political tool," he commented. Nylander was detained earlier in the week as he travelled through Dutch customs on his way to the UK, on a European arrest warrant issued by a French judge on charges of money laundering and cyber-crime.