Former Manchester United forward backs gambling shirt sponsorship ban

Former Premier League star Keith Gillespie has backed a ban on gambling shirt sponsorship in football, becoming the latest ex-pro to throw support behind the proposal.

Gillespie, who had spells with Manchester United, Newcastle and Blackburn in English football’s top-flight, follows former West Brom forward Hal Robson-Kanu in his support for the removal of gambling logos from shirts.

The Northern Ireland international, who won 86 caps for his country, was left bankrupt in 2011 due to his own gambling addiction.

When pushed on the presence of gambling sponsors in football, Gillespie said advertising had gone too far.

Speaking to the Sportsound Meets podcast, he said: “I think the shirt sponsors are too much. It shouldn’t be involved in the sport that much. The betting companies know exactly what they are doing to target people.

“It’s crazy what you can get a bet on nowadays: who’s going to get the next corner or who’s going to get the next yellow card.

“If you wanted to get a bet on a football game years ago you had to bet at the start of it and that was it. It’s worse than it’s ever been,” he added.

Premier League clubs are set to vote on a voluntary ban on gambling shirt sponsorship, with reports suggesting 14 of the 20 clubs will support the measure.

A self-imposed ban would be subject to a transition period of three years, meaning that existing deals would be allowed to run their course, providing they expire no later than the 2024-25 season.

Seven clubs in the Premier League currently count betting firms as their shirt sponsors, including West Ham, Fulham and Newcastle.

Earlier this month, Brighton chairman Tony Bloom backed a ban on shirt sponsors but insisted there was a place for the industry in the game in a less prominent position.

Brighton counts Betway as its official betting partner but the online operator is not offered any advertising space on the team’s shirts.