Football could “do without” gambling, said Lord Dominic Hubbard, 6th Baron Addington, as he presented four amendments to the Football Governance Bill.
Lord Hubbard, a member of the Liberal Democrat party and Vice President of the UK Sports Association, proposed changes to the bill on March 11, aimed at improving the regulation and governance of English football.
During the debate, he acknowledged that sports like horse racing “are generally dependent” on gambling but expressed concern over the excessive amount.
“In these amendments, I am suggesting that football might be one place we could do without it,” he said. “The revenue might be very useful to the clubs involved, but we have already heard about the huge reach of football as a subject, and the fact that there is a huge demand for it. Can we not get rid of gambling here?”
While his views are shared by some in the football industry, Labour peer Baroness Taylor of Bolton pointed out that this bill might not be the right tool to introduce such drastic changes.
She stated: “I am not sure that this is the vehicle for what he actually wants to do.
“I am personally not against gambling, per se, but I am against some of the tactics used by gambling companies to suck people into becoming addicted and gambling more than they can afford.”
Baroness Taylor added that this is a much larger issue than just football, and although this bill may not be the right place for such changes, it is important to be aware of the existing problem.
A Broad Discussion on Football
Although Lord Hubbard’s proposed amendments are unlikely to make it into the final draft of the bill, they sparked an interesting debate.
One of the main objectives of the bill is to ensure the financial sustainability of the entire football system, with particular emphasis on smaller clubs. This also includes addressing the growing financial divide between the Premier League and lower divisions, which has widened in recent seasons.
The challenge in creating legislation that applies equally to both the Premier League and lower divisions is that the immense value and global influence of the Premier League often complicate efforts to introduce rules suitable for all levels.
Measures aimed at the long-term sustainability of the Premier League could unintentionally limit its growth and the investments it brings to the country, a problem the UK Prime Minister is keen to avoid in his policy to support economic growth.
By focusing on all gambling sponsorships in football, we would only widen this gap, as pointed out by Baroness Fos of Buckley.
“One of the aims of the Bill is that the football regulator will help clubs, particularly smaller clubs, become financially sustainable and avoid financial jeopardy,” she said.
“That has been a compelling and convincing argument for this Bill. So why would we cut off a perfectly legitimate source of funding in the form of lucrative sponsorship, which is what these amendments would do?”
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