Half of Premier League clubs breach rules on advertising gambling to children | Gambling

Half of Premier League Football clubs have advertised gambling on websites aimed at or featuring under-18s, sparking concerns over a voluntary code of conduct drawn up with the help of the gambling industry.

TO Review of the gambling regulation published last year This resulted in English football clubs avoiding further government-imposed restrictions affecting their income from betting sponsorship.

On the other hand, Premier League clubs voluntarily offered to give up betting logos on the front of the shirt from 2026 and also signed up to new sponsorship rules, drawn up in collaboration with the gambling industry lobby group, the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC).

The move was designed to demonstrate that clubs and gambling companies were acting responsibly, amid concerns about football that promotes betting and the impact it could have on young people and vulnerable people.

But 10 of the 20 Premier League clubs did not appear to be complying with their own code until Monday. At least two clubs displayed members of their under-18 team wearing shirts with betting logos, despite being underage.

The findings have raised concerns among campaigners, including former ITV football commentator Clive Tyldesley and former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith, about the possibility of allowing clubs to set their own rules on gambling sponsorship.

The voluntary code, published in July, states that clubs must ensure that “no gambling sponsor logos (…) are included in any material or section of a website that has been designed to be viewed or used specifically by children”.

But betting logos appear on club shop pages aimed at children, under-18s football content and even pages dedicated to “junior” fan forums and mascots, according to analysis by The Guardian and Inspection of the playing fieldan online football research journal.

Two clubs, Brentford and Wolverhampton Wanderers, have included betting logos at the bottom of the children's sections of their online merchandise store.

While the logo on Brentford's website did not have a link to the website of its sponsor, Hollywood Bets, anyone browsing the kids' section of the Wolves club shop could click directly to its sponsor Debet, which offers computer-generated virtual sports betting and casino games.

On Everton’s website, a page with news about the club’s “junior supporters forum” for children aged between 11 and 17 included a link to the company’s sponsor, Stake.com, as did its under-18 team page, where two members of the squad were seen sporting the online casino company’s branding on their shirts. Both are under 18 and would not be permitted to wear the logo during a league match.

Everton FC have previously been criticised for their promotion of Stake.com, which specialises in cryptocurrency betting. In 2022, asked the sponsor not to use the club's brand in a dispute over the gambling company's advertising tactics.

A member of Aston Villa's Under-18s was also pictured wearing the logo of their sponsor, Betano. The image has since been deleted.

Newly promoted Ipswich Town have included a link to 8xbet on their under-18s page, another dedicated to young fan initiatives and one dedicated to youth fan experiences, including the page where fans sign up to be the matchday mascot.

Several clubs, including Liverpool, Chelsea and Leicester City, have been linked to betting sponsors on under-18 football sites.

Pages on Chelsea FC's website listing under-18s fixtures, as well as one showing youth team highlights, feature links to the website of their sponsor Betway.

Liverpool, Everton, Chelsea, Aston Villa, Wolves, Leicester City, Brentford and Ipswich removed links or images after being contacted by the Guardian. Betway said it had no interest in advertising to under-18s and had notified Chelsea of ​​the issue.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Newcastle United's website still had links to the websites of three betting sponsors on the pages for its under-18 team and its academy, aimed at children as young as nine.

And Nottingham Forest's website displayed branding and links to the club's gambling sponsor Kaiyun Sports in a section of the website dedicated to the girls' academy, a programme for those in the under-10 to under-16 age group.

Tyldesley said: “I would like to say I am surprised, but I am not. We are seeing more and more examples that we cannot trust broadcasters, football clubs and TV channels to regulate themselves.”

Duncan Smith, co-chair of a parliamentary group examining the harms caused by gambling, said: “The problem with codes of conduct in the gambling industry is that they simply ignore them and continue to harm lives.”

In September 2022, Betway fined over £400,000 after their logo was found on a page on West Ham's website where young fans were invited to colour in a teddy bear.

Charles Ritchie, from the campaign group Game In the case of Lives, new concerns about gambling logos attached to content aimed at minors indicated that “nothing has been learned.”

“The gambling industry continues to use football clubs to ensure that young fans are just a click away from harmful products,” he added.

All logos and links reviewed by The Guardian and Inspection of the playing field appeared in the header or footer section of the club websites, reproduced on every page.

However, several clubs, including Manchester United, have made sure to remove gambling links from sites that might appeal to children.

The Premier League said it was working with clubs to implement the code and that unresolved complaints would be considered by the Independent Football Ombudsman.