Gambling ads on strips to be banned

New gambling rules will ban betting logos from being displayed on football shirts and impose a maximum stake for online casinos, according to The Times.

At the weekend, the newspaper revealed aspects of the government's forthcoming gambling reform legislation, which is expected to be announced next month.

The government is expected to announce maximum stakes of £2 to £5 for online gamblers using slot machines, and "affordability checks" to prevent punters incurring debt.

Ministers also hope to reach agreement with Premier League football clubs in the next few weeks to remove gambling companies from their shirts.

Last year, research by CARE revealed half of Premier League shirt sponsors are betting companies. A total of 19 clubs partner with betting firms in some way.

The news prompted concern clubs aren't taking gambling harms seriously. Public Health England estimates that around 400 suicides are linked to gambling every year.

Today, the Gambling Commission, a UK regulator funded by betting companies, announced tougher penalties for companies that behave irresponsibly.

It said it has put operators on notice that it can no longer tolerate “an attitude of lowest-possible compliance being sufficient” and will be introducing “a suite of sanctions".

Commenting on the forthcoming changes to gambling legislation, which has not been updated since 2005, Liz Ritchie, co-founder of the charity Gambling with Lives, said:

“We need an end to all gambling advertising, not a token gesture of removing them from shirts. We need proper affordability checks at a level closer to £100 that will prevent harm and we need a smart statutory levy on the gambling industry to pay for truly independent public health messaging, research and treatment.”

CARE has campaigned on gambling for a number of years and will be carefully following developments on this issue in the coming weeks. To find out more about our work on gambling, visit our Cause Page:

CARE for Gambling | CARE