League of Ireland clubs free to pursue gambling sponsorship deals
Football Association Ireland confirms decisions will be left up to individual clubs as gambling marketing debate intensifies
The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) will not ban League of Ireland football clubs from signing sponsorship deals with gambling operators.
In comments reported by the Irish Examiner, League of Ireland director Mark Scanlon said he would let clubs determine their own commercial partners.
“We are quite happy with our own stance, but club matters are internal,” he said.
“As long as they fit within UEFA regulation and FAI regulations, we’re happy with that. These things have continued to evolve over the last number of years; we have seen regulations come into place for areas like alcohol sponsorship and so on,” Scanlon added.
Earlier this week, League of Ireland champions Shamrock Rovers announced a two-year front-of-shirt deal with 888, while FAI Cup holders Dundalk partnered with BetRegal in December.
The FAI terminated a two-year sponsorship deal with SportPesa in February 2020, ending the deal after just 11 months, as part of a wider re-evaluation of its existing sponsorship portfolio.
The FAI had been criticised for the deal by gambling-related harm support groups.
Discussing the different stance from the FAI in relation to club sponsorships, Scanlon continued: “We made our decisions internally within the FAI and the board of the FAI, who considered all situations when deciding sponsors.
“Every sponsorship deal decision would have to go through the board. Clubs internally have to make those decisions themselves and who they want to bring on board as partners,” he added.
Gambling advertising is currently a hot topic in Ireland, with the Gaelic Athletics Association (GAA) and Gaelic Players Association (GPA) both calling for curbs to be imposed, as well as a whistle-to-whistle ban on gambling advertising during live sport.
Additionally, in February, the Irish Labour Party published a bill which would ban all forms of gambling advertising, including sporting sponsorships, on public health grounds.