GambleAware has recently partnered with the Football Supporters Association (FSA) and the goal of the partnership is to promote safe gambling. According to a new study that was carried out by the FSA in conjunction with GambleAware’s safer gambling ‘Bet Regret’ campaign, football clubs have to do so much more in order to help in educating their fans about the risks of irresponsible gambling activities.

As it stands, only 10 percent of the football fans in the United Kingdom who participated in the survey believed that the clubs were doing enough to warn them about the risks associated with gambling. This is, of course, very worrying especially considering the fact the currently there are several high-profile commercial partnerships between football clubs in the UK and gambling operators.

In response to the question about whether they approved the sponsorship of football clubs by bookmakers, only 13 percent of the respondents said they would approve or be happy if their favorite football club inked a sponsorship deal with a gambling operator. The respondents were also particularly critical of the bookmakers sponsoring individual players – 84 percent of them think that this is way beyond what they would say is acceptable.

Now, it is quite clear that there are huge concerns with regards to the increasing prevalence and accessibility of gambling services across the industry. One of the most pressing concerns on this regard is that young football fans are being exposed to gambling in one way or the other. Kevin Miles, the chief executive of the FSA, pointed out that football clubs are not like any other kind of business since they are an integral part of their supporters’ lives and therefore it is their duty to care.

“It’s clear fans want their clubs to do more on educating their supporters about the risks of gambling and alongside GambleAware we’ll be pushing clubs, particularly those with prominent gambling sponsors, to do better,” he said.

The FSA’s and GambleAware’s ‘Bet Regret‘ is a high-profile campaign that aims to educate the public on the potential impacts of problem gambling on their lives and the lives of the families. This will see to the launch of a number of initiatives throughout the 2019-2020 football season.

Lewes FC to Wear Responsible Gambling Shirts

Lewes FC will become the very first side in the professional and semi-professional football set-up to wear shirt warning players about the risks associated with gambling. The football club will be promoting the Gambling With Lives charity on their shirt until October. Gambling With Lives co-founder Charles Ritchie believes that this partnership is proof that people are becoming increasingly concerned and angered by the prevalence of gambling within the sport.