AMIDST all the nonsense yesterday surrounding Joey Barton, such as the player’s entirely self-serving ‘mea culpa’ statement, there was actually one major grain of sense spoken, and yes it did come from Barton himself. Here is his own words: “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.
“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, or even to encourage people within the sport that betting is wrong.
“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. I say that knowing that every time I pull on my team’s shirt, I am advertising a betting company.”
That’s true – Burnley are sponsored by Dafabet, as are Celtic. The shirts of nine of the Premier League’s other 19 clubs are also sponsored by gambling companies this season, and of course we have our own tie-ups here in Scotland between gambling firms and the sport’s authorities, most notably William Hill’s sponsorship of the Scottish Cup and Betfred’s sponsorship of the League Cup for the SPFL.
The culture across football is very pro-gambling, without a doubt, and Barton makes the case that football needs to sort out that culture. It’s not just about players either – what about the fans who are constantly being told that football is better when you have a bet on it?
No it isn’t, it’s a different form of experience and while it can be pleasurable, betting on any sport can become a problem for individuals who cannot control their punting. Yet while The Kicker has some sympathy for Barton’s viewpoint it is a simple fact that nobody forces anybody to place a bet. It’s like smoking or drinking or drugs or any other activity that can lead to addiction – the idea is not to get addicted in the first place, and the way to do that is to control how you gamble.
That means education for those who could become addicted as soon as they show the signs of it, and that is where football could play a huge part.
For reasons that are lost in history, footballers are seen as role models for young people who are the most likely group to fall into addictive habits. Get top players to start educating the young about gambling, drinking, drugs and even eating properly and football might just regain the respect that the likes of Joey Barton diminished.
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