\n
![](\"https:\/\/readwrite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/everton-900x600.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n [ad_1]
\n<\/p>\n
The top soccer leagues in England have reached a collective, voluntary agreement on gambling sponsorship.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n A code of conduct<\/a> has been agreed between the Premier League, Football Association (national governing body), English Football League (tiers 2-4) and Women\u2019s Super League.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The understanding was made public just hours after elite clubs were accused of \u201cdesperation<\/a>\u201d to lure cash, with 11 out of 20 Premier League clubs set to display gambling company logos as their front-of-shirt sponsor in the upcoming 2024\/25 season. AFC Bournemouth is the latest club to endorse a betting firm on their jerseys after they revealed a \u201crecord-breaking\u201d agreement with Asian betting outlet, bj88.<\/span><\/p>\n Aston Villa, Brentford, Crystal Palace, Everton, Fulham, Leicester, Nottingham Forest, Southampton, West Ham, and Wolves are the other top-flight clubs set to display a betting company logo on the front of their shirts in the stadiums and to broadcast audiences of millions around the world.<\/span><\/p>\n This remains a contentious issue in the UK, even after Premier League clubs agreed to phase out gambling shirt sponsorship by the end of next season, 2025\/26.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As part of the new code, the leagues have committed to four key principles underpinning the new framework: protection, social responsibility, reinvestment, and integrity. The bodies say they want to reduce the prospects of harm and children\u2019s exposure to gambling activity, with a focus on responsibility.<\/span><\/p>\n Looking ahead to the proposed end of gambling firms as primary shirt sponsors, the code states clubs should only enter into partnerships with companies which the Gambling Commission licenses. <\/span>It also requests that family sections inside stadiums should not be adorned with gambling advertising or promotions<\/span><\/p>\n The Big Step, a charity which campaigns against overall gambling advertising in soccer said the clubs merely \u201csign these desperate deals for a few extra quid\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n In what is a tangled web, the Football League has SkyBet as the principal sponsor of its three leagues, \u2013 Championship, League One, League Two \u2013 a longstanding relationship that dates back to the 2013\/14 campaign. However, the Football League insists the\u00a0 partnership is \u201cbuilt around safer gambling, including a memorandum of understanding that sets out how to deliver joint objectives in a socially responsible way\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Image credit: Everton FC\/X<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nCharity criticism of soccer\u2019s relationship with gambling sponsorship<\/h2>\n