Wayne Rooney was slammed by one of the NHS’s top consultant psychologists last night for taking millions to promote an online casino.
Matt Gaskell, clinical lead for the Northern Gambling Service, said the former England footballer was causing immense harm by promoting 32Red.
Rooney will wear the number 32 shirt after joining Championship side Derby County, which signed a ‘record breaking’ sponsorship deal with the gambling firm on the back of his transfer.
Wayne Rooney was slammed by one of the NHS’s top consultant psychologists last night for taking millions to promote an online casino
On Tuesday he was accused of ‘selling his soul’ after agreeing the 18-month contract which will earn him £7.8million in wages. Within hours of the announcement the father of four – who has admitted to gambling away thousands of pounds as a player – posted photos with 32Red branded shirts and the hashtag ‘#WR32’ to his 31.3million followers online.
Yesterday Rooney’s move back to the UK after a stint with DC United in Washington continued to attract criticism. One academic said it highlighted the ‘big moral issue’ of gambling in football. Critics also accused 32Red of being ‘immoral and unethical’.
Mr Gaskell, who is helping to set up the first NHS clinic outside London for gambling addicts, said: ‘I can only think Wayne Rooney is not aware of the serious harm that gambling can cause young people.
‘He should visit us at the NHS Northern Gambling Service to learn why wearing that shirt number is harmful.’ Derek Webb, founder of the Campaign for Fairer Gambling, said: ‘These companies are immoral, unethical and have taken advantage of lax regulation and weak politicians.
‘We need to stop young men getting addicted to gambling – they are using football to grow their wealth.’
Dr Dan Plumley, a senior lecturer in sport business management at Sheffield Hallam University, said Rooney’s ‘unique’ arrangement with the club’s sponsor added to the ‘ethical issue’ football has with gambling.
He told the BBC: ‘There is a big moral issue with gambling at the minute. This is no coincidence. And it is right to be pointed out.
‘The ethical issue, especially with the wider societal problems with gambling, has led to a lot of talk about it. It is an issue that is on everyone’s agenda.’ Experts suggested that Derby County would not be able to afford a player of Rooney’s calibre without 32Red’s sponsorship deal.
The general manager at 32Red, Neil Banbury, said the arrangement with Derby ‘shows a new model for football club sponsorship is possible’.
Former Arsenal and England captain Tony Adams has previously said such sponsorship deals should be brought to a halt.
He said last year: ‘It’s time gambling sponsorship in football stopped, like the alcohol sponsorship of the past.
‘Gambling’s everywhere. It’s destroying people’s lives.’
Industry regulator the Gambling Commission said that sponsorship should be ‘undertaken in a socially responsible manner’ and should not appeal in particular to under-18s.
Matt Gaskell, clinical lead for the Northern Gambling Service, said the former England footballer was causing immense harm by promoting 32Red
Former Derby player Danny Mills, who also played alongside Rooney with England, said the deal ‘seems like a little bit of a publicity stunt’.
Gambling campaigners said that the arrangement was a clear sign of the iron grip betting firms have on football.
Half of the 20 Premier League teams and 16 of 24 Championship clubs are sponsored by gambling firms this season.
Gambling firms tried to allay fears with a whistle-to-whistle ban on TV advertising during live sport, but critics say young fans are still bombarded with adverts on social media, players’ shirts and pitch-side hoardings.
32Red also sponsors Championship rivals Leeds United, Preston and Middlesbrough, and Rangers in Scotland.
The firm was fined £2million last year for targeting a gambling addict who had spent more than £750,000 with free bonuses. The Gambling Commission found 32Red plied the customer with freebies despite 22 incidents which indicated they were a problem gambler. Based in Gibraltar, 32Red pays less corporation tax than it would if it was based in the UK.
Its parent firm paid an effective corporation tax rate of just 12 per cent, compared to the rate of 19 per cent in Britain.
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Company filings show Kindred Group, which is based in Malta, paid £17.9million of tax – an effective tax rate of 12 per cent.
Last night 32Red refused to disclose how much tax it pays in the UK.
The firm does pay into Treasury coffers via the Remote Gaming Duty – a 21 per cent tax on revenues accrued in the UK – but does not disclose how much.
In all it paid £137million in duties in Western Europe, according to filings.
A spokesman for Kindred Group, which also has subsidiaries registered in the British Virgin Islands and the Channel Island of Alderney, said that it was ‘fully regulated by the UK Gambling Commission, has a big office in London and pays all UK gambling levies to the UK Treasury.