Liverpool have been told that the run the risk of “prosecution and millions of pounds in fines” unless they stop promoting Russian gambling 1xBet, according to The Times.
The newspaper claims that Britain’s gambling regulator has also warned Tottenham and Chelsea as star players like Virgil van Dijk, Harry Kane and Willian have all plugged the company, which has now been “blacklisted by regulators” across the world.
Liverpool had not long ago agreed a four-year deal to make 1xBet their official global betting partner.
However they are now being warned to sever all ties with the Russian company.
OPINION
Is it about time that FIFA, UEFA, the FA, the Premier League and clubs themselves finally put a stop to the sheer volume of betting companies that have infiltrated football in recent years? Half of the clubs in the Premier League are now sponsored by betting firms in deals worth a combined £69million, according to the Guardian. 17 out of the 24 clubs in the Championship are also sponsored by betting companies. Research by the Gambling Commission says that 6.6 per cent of gamblers in England are “at low or moderate risk of developing problems”. It would be fair to assume that percentage will rise among football fans, who are regularly watching games, doing their accumulators and bets every week, while also surrounded by even more betting advertisements on shirts, in stadium names, on advertising boards, on the television, on the internet – everywhere you look. This is an issue that could get out of hand fast unless we start from the bottom with clubs taking the moral high ground first.
