Banned Joey questions football’s betting links
Joey Barton has called on football to reconsider its links with the gambling industry after the Football Association banned him for 18 months for breaking its betting rules.
The governing body imposed the sanction because he placed 1,260 bets on matches between March 2006 and May 2013. He was also fined £30,000.
At 34, the Burnley midfielder believes the ban will effectively end his career and has said he will appeal against its length.
There is no guarantee he would be allowed to play pending that appeal.
Barton questioned the links between the game and the betting industry in an almost 1,500-word statement on his website.
“I think if the FA is truly serious about tackling the culture of gambling in football, it needs to look at its own dependence on the gambling companies, their role in football and in sports broadcasting, rather than just blaming the players who place a bet,” he wrote.
“Surely they need to accept there is a huge clash between their rules and the culture that surrounds the modern game, where anyone who watches football on TV or in the stadia is bombarded by marketing, advertising and sponsorship by betting companies, and where much of the coverage now, on Sky for example, is intertwined with the broadcasters’ own gambling interests.
“That all means this is not an easy environment in which to try to stop gambling.
“It is like asking a recovering alcoholic to spend all his time in a pub or a brewery. If the FA is serious about tackling gambling I would urge it to reconsider its own dependence on the gambling industry.”