9 Comments

Hear, hear on sports gambling. And it's not just governments that are addicted. Even political parties can become entangled, as your colleagues at The Times are reporting on the Conservative Party election day betting scandal

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Isn't reckless batting the whole point of T20 criket?

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Great Ten, Gid. (Post responsibly.)

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Cheers Tony.

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"Gambling is, as smoking was, a slow-acting poison that uses sport to mask its taste." Thank you Gideon. Hope that features on a ghost billboard somewhere near everyone soon. Better still, running on the electric ad banners stadia in between the ‘Bet Now!’s. Crowdfund?

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Gambling sponsorship has been slowly consuming football and other sports in the uk, the whole sports industry is complicit, quietly hoping no govt restricts this easy meal-ticket as they absolutely should. In game betting and the insidious aping of the kids video gaming model is just the worst.

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Very enjoyable read 😊

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They take away cricketer’s mobiles so that no funny business can happen, as if it couldn’t be pre-planned prior to a game. Unfortunately it’s going to take a big betting scandal to get the spotlight back onto betting sponsorships and remove this creeping scourge out of the game.

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I see that John Kehoe in the AFR today has an excellent opinion piece "How the AFL got itself hooked on harmful gambling", with a sub-head "The insidious link between sport and wagering was exposed by Gillon McLachlan’s appointment as chief executive of Tabcorp."

Worth a read for those with subscriptions or if the AFR unlocks it.

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