Football clubs in the English Premier League clubs could be banned from carrying gambling sponsorship on their shirts, following proposal included in a draft white paper to be presented to the UK Parliament. An update to the UK gambling laws is expected this June.
Half of the 20 teams in the English Premier League have betting company logos on their shirts, and this latest move follows a 2020 recommendation by a House of Lords select committee, saying that Premier League clubs should face a shirt sponsorship ban. A spokesperson for the UK’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport told the BBC: “We are undertaking the most comprehensive review of gambling laws in 15 years to make sure they are fit for the digital age. We will publish a white paper which sets out our vision for the sector in the coming weeks.”
Any ban would probably not be applied until the 2023/24 season at the earliest, but the Premier League would clearly prefer a voluntarily removal, previously stating that “a self-regulatory approach would provide a practical and flexible alternative to legislation or outright prohibition.”
