More should be done to shield children from the “bombardment” of gambling ads at football stadiums, MPs have said as they argued for greater regulation of the sector.
Parliament’s cross-party Culture, Media and Sport Committee said that while it welcomed the voluntary withdrawal of gambling sponsorship from the front of Premier League players’ shirts, the move would not reduce the volume of betting ads present during games.
The MPs on the committee recommended that the new gambling sponsorship code of conduct should ask that sports governing bodies cut the number of ads in stadiums while also promoting a higher number of ads dedicated to responsible gambling.
The report comes just months after the government published its long-awaited gambling white paper which recommended a new statutory levy on big firms in a bid to crack down on online addiction.
Other measures include maximum stakes for online slot machines and checks to “better protect even those unable to afford small losses”.
In its report, the MPs cited a recent study which found that branding on football shirts made up just 7% of all the gambling messages that were visible during 10 matches while another study revealed that 7,000 gambling messages could be seen during six matches surveyed on the opening weekend of the season.
They said that while they backed the contents of the white paper, there was “work to do” to ensure that player protection checks were minimally intrusive and protected financial data.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
The MPs also demanded that the government set out a detailed timetable for the proposals in the white paper given they were not mentioned in the King’s Speech last month.
Dame Caroline Dinenage, chair of the…
More information about this article Read More
Source: news.sky.com
This notice was published: 2023-12-20 14:38:00
Sky News is a British 24-hour information television channel, the first in Europe of its kind, launched on February 5, 1989 by the British Sky Broadcasting Company.