Fans call for crackdown on bookies

SCOTTISH fans have urged the country’s football authorities to give serious consideration to their reliance on bookmakers as commercial partners. And they are being encouraged to do more to prevent problem gambling, which the organisers of a new survey fear is a major risk to mental health during another lockdown. The Scottish Football Supporters Association released details of a survey into attitudes to the game’s relationship with betting firms. A massive 78 per cent of fans believe the national sport is too reliant on sponsorship from bookies. Only five per cent of fans felt their clubs were doing enough to make people aware of the risks associated with gambling. SFSA director Paul Goodwin told Sportsmail that the umbrella group would not be campaigning for a wholesale abandonment of

bookies as shirt or competition sponsors. But he said: ‘This happened on our watch. The people running our game just let this happen. I think there is a corporate social responsibility to be met. ‘If you’re an outsider looking in, what do you see in Scottish football? You see an industry desperately relying on bookies to provide sponsorship. ‘We’re not going out with banners, just raising the issue. We sent all the information to the SFA and SPFL, all the research, all the information, showing that it’s a statistically significant survey. Will they choose to do anything with it?’ The SFSA had actually been approached by betting companies looking to sponsor them — and their decision to reject their overtures brought them to the attention of the Be Gamble Aware charity. ‘They asked us to put something out there, asking the fans if there was too much,’ explained Goodwin. ‘The answer was yes. ‘I think what has triggered a lot of emotion is, during this time of lockdown, gambling is one of the key issues driving some of the darker thoughts some folk have. ‘People have been looking to over-use of gambling as a way out. And then it’s a black hole that goes nowhere. ‘The questions in the survey were led by the charity’s experience. And the time was right to ask fans what they thought. ‘Undoubtedly, the feeling is there is just too much. If you think back a season or so, we had ladbrokes, William Hill and Betfred sponsoring all three main competitions. ‘We know deals have been signed. We understand. But was it the right thing to do, to wholeheartedly embrace gambling? ‘The answer has to be no. Going forward, there should be more thought goes into longer-term strategy for suitable sponsors.’