The Irish Labour Party wants legislation to prohibit gambling companies from advertising during sports events. The call stops short of asking for a ban on sports sponsorship, according to the Irish Times.
Senator Mark Wall said there is a “normalization of gambling and sport” that is “being interlinked by gambling companies.”
“That’s a longer conversation and a more complex conversation and would have far-reaching impacts if there wasn’t replacement funding,” said party spokesman, Aodhán Ó Ríordáin. He said gambling addiction is “poisoning individuals and families across the country.”
But public health should override concerns about funding for sports, as with alcohol and tobacco advertising. “There is a conversation to be had about sports sponsorship and sports funding, but you can never justify the damage that’s being done to individuals,” he said. “Gambling advertising is in your face, it’s constant, and what we have to do now is try and address that.”
Draft legislation contained an “opt out” clause for charities that would cover raffles and similar events.
Some 40,000 people suffer from gambling addiction, Wall said, and one in eight who start gambling will end up addicted.
Professor Colin O’Gara, a consultant addictions psychiatrist, said: “We cannot continue to ignore the links between problem gambling and the enormously high volume of betting ads we are seeing at present. Much like tobacco, in ten years I think we will look back on the proliferation of gambling advertising in sport and entertainment and ask ourselves how we let it get so out of control.”
