Sport ‘a force for good’ in tackling NI gambling harm

A football match to raise awareness of gambling harm has been held in Northern Ireland.

Organised by the charity Gambling with Lives at Harland and Wolff Welders stadium, players included MLAs, charity campaigners and people recovering from gambling addiction.

It is estimated that 2.3 percent of people in the province are problem gamblers – four times higher than in Great Britain.

Harmful and pervasive

At the match, recovering addict Declan Cregan – who speaks at sports clubs on the harms of gambling – shared: “Football brings so much joy to people, but it can also be a route into gambling addiction and misery for many, including myself.”

He continued: “That’s why it’s so important that we’ve played this game today and showed that sport can be a force for good.”

MLA Robbie Butler, who is on the All-Party Group on Reducing Harm Related to Gambling, commented how he loves football, but when gambling in sport is “pervasive and invasive in people’s lives and when it normalises that then issues do arise.”

Participant MLA Philip McGuigan said: “The legislation we have in the north is light years out of date” stating: “we have far too many individuals, families and communities suffering from the blight of gambling harm”.

’Major public health issue’

It is currently illegal for under-18s to bet in Northern Ireland, but a recent survey of 7,500 under-16s found that 30% had gambled in some form.

In June 2024 a Stormont report recommended gambling should be seen as a “major public health issue” and called for an “approach similar to that used for tobacco and alcohol”.