Duty to help bet addicts
Sunday Mail 75
A charity set up to help problem gamblers has warned Scottish football i t needs to ta ke it s responsibi l it ies more seriously if it wants to keep prof it ing f rom a bookies bonanza.
Ou r thr e e bi g ge s t competitions and the two largest clubs have backing from betting firms.
But GambleAware – new sponsors of the Scottish Footba l l Suppor t er s Association’s annual awards – reckon the Scots game is not doing enough to help punters or players deal with an epidemic of addiction.
Last week’s MailSport special highlighted the nightmare stories of players Ross Barbour and Eddie McTernan, both of whom are thankfully finding their way out of the hole gambling left them in at a young age.
And Iain Corby, the deputy chief executive of GambleAware, said: “The message to Scottish football is if you want to benef it from the significant revenue stream f rom gambl ing, there are responsibilities that come with it.
“Football clubs are well placed to help people who might be in trouble and, more importantly, to help prevent people getting into trouble.
“We’d very much like to work with them. I ’m surpr ised they’re not phoning us. I’d have thought they’d want to find a way to make the relationship between footbal l and gambl ing sustainable. They have a responsibility not just to take.
“Policy makers are very concerned about the amount of gambl i ng marketing so all industries involved, whether it’s sport, advertising or gambling itself, should be thinking of ways to allay the fears of politicians and do the right thing for fans and players.”
For information and advice, see begambleaware. org. For confidential support, call the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133.