BBC R4: “Last year, punters across Britain gambled and lost more than 14 billion pounds. The betting industry is now more visible than ever before, with blanket advertising campaigns on television, radio, online, and outdoors. And through sponsorship of teams, and even entire leagues, gambling companies have embedded themselves in professional football in the UK.
Some see the relationship as harmless, but a groundswell of public opinion labels it as immoral and downright dangerous.
Radio 4’s File on 4 asks, has the beautiful game forged a questionable alliance with a risky business?”
Dr Henrietta Bowden-Jones is a gambling addiction specialist and Director of the NHS’s National Problem Gambling Clinic. She believes in-play betting poses a significant risk to those vulnerable to addiction: “If you can have constant bets throughout a match… it becomes a never-ending potential for somebody to destroy themselves through their addiction.”