By Andy Drozdziak
Gambling company Betway has been fined more than £400,000 for its ‘highly irresponsible’ advertising on a children’s colouring page on the website of premier League club West Ham United.
A logo linking to the bookmaker’s website appeared on two pages designed for young fans of the Premier League club, breaking the Gambling Commission’s rules on social responsibility, between 2020 and 2021.
One breach lasted for three weeks but a logo on another page – where children could print and colour in a picture of a teddy bear – remained for more than 18 months.
Chaplain for Sport Mgr. Vladimir Felzmann condemned the ‘grotesque’ image of the logo. “It is grotesque to see the Beautiful Game prostituted,” he told the Universe. “For all too many, gambling is as addictive as alcohol for alcoholics.”
Leading Christian charity CARE, fear that, although the links have since been removed, the damage may have been done and young people could be plunged into dangerous addictions:
“It is hugely irresponsible for football clubs, at any level, to feature links to gambling sites from children’s pages on their websites,” CARE’s James Mildred told the Universe. “Football clubs have a moral and ethical responsibility to set a good example in light of the immense popularity of the game.”
Although the commission said it took the issue “extremely seriously”, campaigners claimed the “small” penalty would be viewed by Betway as a “cost of doing business”.
Leanne Oxley, the commission’s enforcement director, said: “Protecting children from gambling is at the heart of what we do.
“Although there is no suggestion that the operator was deliberately targeting children, or that children had been allowed to gamble, we take the breach of any rules aimed at protecting children extremely seriously.”
James Grimes, from anti-gambling campaign group The Big Step, described the advert on West Ham’s website as “appalling”, claiming it had put the “health and lives” of young football fans at risk.
“Such a small fine when compared to the gambling industry’s giant profits will not deter them,” he said.
“Until gambling firms genuinely risk losing their licences they will just see fines as a cost of doing business and carry on.”
Betway said in a statement: “As a responsible licensed operator, Betway has zero tolerance with marketing to under-18s.
“On this occasion, the Betway logo – owing to a technical error – appeared on a restricted section of the West Ham United website. As soon as we were made aware of this error, we took immediate action to get it removed.
“Nonetheless, we accept the fine and will continue to work closely with the club to ensure this does not happen again.”
James Mildred called upon the Government to introduce legislation to address the matter.
“The dodgy links between football and the betting industry clearly needs to be properly examined, debated and changes made. This is exactly the sort of thing the UK Government must address in its promised review of existing betting laws,” he said.
PHOTO: Screengrab from BBC Football website shows the West Ham ‘colouring in’ page with a link to a gambling sponsor’s website.