The FA: partnerships with sports betting operators to discontinue, including deal with Ladbrokes

The FA, the English Football Federation, will be ending its sponsorship agreements with sports betting operators, announced the body on 22/06/2017. This decision will result in the early termination of the contract with the UK operator Ladbrokes, signed on 03/06/2016 for several years and valued at £4m per season (€4.6m on 23/06/2017). Ladbrokes enjoyed the status of betting partner of the English national teams and the Emirates FA Cup since 01/08/2016.

This decision was taken by the FA Executive Committee in May 2017, following a three-month review of the commercial relations and the position of the FA with respect to sports betting operators, as the English federation plays the role of regulator of betting on football in England.

In recent months, professional gamblers (former and current) who are addicted to sports betting have criticised the ambiguous role of the FA, who is both a regulator and a commercial partner of the operators. The player Joey Barton, sanctioned by the FA on 26/04/2017 to an 18-month suspension for having bet 1,260 times on football matches between the…