Govt to do deal with Premier League over gambling sponsorship

The government is likely to do a deal with the Premier League which could see gambling firms being removed from the front of football shirts.

The UK Government is due to release its White Paper on reforms to the 2005 Gambling Act in the coming weeks.

It is expected to stop short of forcing clubs to drop gambling sponsors by law.

Instead, according to the BBC, the plan is for the Premier League to agree to change the front of shirts voluntarily.

Under this arrangement, gambling firms would still be free to be involved in football. Betting companies would still be promoted on other parts of club shirts and Premier League stadiums.

At the moment, eight out of the 20 Premier League clubs have gambling firm names on the front of their shirts.

In its submission to the UK Government's formal consultation on the 2005 Gambling Act, CARE proposed a series of key reforms, including:

• A new public health approach to gambling related harms
• Gambling advertising should be far more restricted than currently - including in football
• There should be an age limit of 18 across all gambling products
• A new duty of care should be imposed on gambling operators
• A new statutory levy on gambling operators providing services to consumers either on or offline

Read CARE's full submission including our full list of proposed reforms.