The government continues to be pressured to resolve the Premier League’s commercial relationship with bookmakers.
The DCMS states that the government intends to publish the long-awaited Gaming Review Amendments in February. Industry reformists insist that major changes be made to the football relationship with betting.
This year started with Championship team Sheffield Wednesday. They were criticized for entering into a partnership to launch “ Shops ” at the Hillsborough Stadium.
This move was called a ” honey trap“. Gaming with Lives, is an organisation leading calls for stricter gambling laws in order to prevent suicides.
Sheffield Wednesday was said to be following Aston Villa’s lead in announcing an “unrivalled partnership in-stadium” with William Hill. It remains unclear whether government intervention will take place in the relationship between football and betting, which is widely acknowledged as being one of the Review’s most contentious conflicts.
GWL called Wednesday’s bosses irresponsible after they allowed the club to sign an in-stadia deal with a sponsor. This was following the death of Lewis Keogh (34-year-old club supporter) who died owing PS55,000 worth of gambling debts.
Sheffield MP Gill Furniss reacted to the grief of the Keogh families and demanded Wednesday end the partnership. “I stand with the families who have lost loved ones due to gambling-related suicide by urging William Hill Wednesday and Sheffield Wednesday not only remove the club branding but also the imagery that is used in gambling-related products and promotions.
The Government should use its long overdue Gambling White Paper to reshape the football-gambling relationship. To protect football fans, it must stop gambling sponsorship and curtail such partnerships span>
GWL continues to be a powerful campaign for the ‘Big Step’. Liz Ritchie and Charles Ritchie were founders of the reform group after Jack Ritchie’s death. They received MBEs in government’s Honours list.
This campaign reiterated that gambling must be subject to a “statutory tax on profits from the gambling industry, administered by an independently levy board headed by the Department of Health to pay for independent research, treatment and education.”
The UK government should ensure that every gambling death is investigated independently to identify system failures.
The conflict center of football is . Clubs are being accused of “normalizing gambling” by serving as a platform for bookmakers, who spread a misled industry-controlled narrative about responsible gambling.
The industry reformists claim that football should not be permitted to decide its future with gambling, regardless if there is any commercial impact. This outcome will most likely need government arbitration.
PM Rishi Sonak wants to resolve a Conservative Party pledgeby reforming UK Gambling. He demands that all MPs agree on the final outcome related to affordability, credit checks and stake limits.
The PM has stated his resolve to settle gambling issues, but his cabinet remains silent about intervening in or mediating any changes in the football’s relationship between bookmakers and players.
Sunak, having taken the leadership of a split party, wants football to be another conflicting point in his first premiership.
