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» Ex-chelsea & » ‘This ban is long Barca star blew overdue... but sends £6m gambling a positive message’
FORMER Chelsea star Eidur Gudjohnsen has welcomed the Premier League’s decision to stop clubs from striking money-spinning shirt sponsorship deals with gambling companies.
Gudjohnsen, the brilliant Icelandic striker who helped the Blues win two Premier League titles and lifted the Champions League with Barcelona, knows from his own bitter experience about just how addictive betting can become.
Twenty years ago, he estimates he lost around £6million to the bookies – including a five-month period when he blew £400,000.
Gudjohnsen, now aged 44, has thrown his support behind the #Talkmorethanfootball campaign, which is a collaboration between Chelsea, telecommunications company Three and the Samaritans, aimed at encouraging people to talk about their mental health.
Gudjohnsen said: “The ban should have come in much sooner.
“What is it that highlights a club? It’s the shirt sponsor.
“You have every football fan, every kid in the world, with their eyes on the shirts of our biggest clubs every single day. A shirt sponsor is a strong message – advertising is so influential. Everybody is affected by it because we see it on TV, on billboards, on football shirts.
“It’s become a part of our everyday lives.
“I think that the ban sends out a really big, positive message.”
Eight of the current Premier League clubs have front-of-shirt sponsorship deals with betting firms.
That level of promotion will be outlawed by 2026 – although clubs will be able to use gambling company logos on their shirt sleeves.
And pitchside advertising will also still remain in place.
Gudjohnsen cautioned: “The game has got to be careful about what it promotes.
“I remember when I played for Barcelona. They had never had a shirt sponsor in their entire history. Barca’s first sponsor was
UNICEF – and that link-up generated huge awareness for a worthy cause.
“When a club so dominant in the game, like Barcelona, does something like that it can have a huge impact on the world that goes beyond football.”
Gudjohnsen was recovering from injury when he was bitten by the gambling bug. He would sometimes blow £2,000 on a single spin of an online roulette wheel. Gudjohnsen said: “Footballers feel this immense pressure to perform, and to be at the top level all of the time. It can have a big effect when things are not going right.
“Sometimes you look for something different to get that adrenaline rush or whatever. “For some people it can be gambling, others will turn to alcohol or something else that gives you a quick fix. “It’s only when you realise that there is no quick fix out there that you start looking for help.” Gudjohnsen’s decision to back the #Talkmorethanfootball campaign was inspired by research that showed that while 55 percent of people talk to others about football, only 28 percent are prepared to speak about their mental wellbeing. He said: “Reading through the statistics about people who are struggling with their mental health and taking their own lives, you very quickly become aware that something has got to be done about it. “People find it easy to talk to other people about football. It allows them to express their emotions. “Yet it seems to be much harder for people to let their deeper feelings show. “You don’t have to be depressed to ask for help. “If you’re not feeling great then you can reach out for help – and the Samaritans are there for you 24/7.”
He would blow £2,000 on a single spin of an online roulette wheel