It is believed that some sports receive more attention from the gambling industry, influencing the gambling cultures and betting practices and a gambling culture at sports clubs has been linked with increased participation in gambling activities (Hakansson et al., 2021). Lim et al. (2016) found that British footballers were influenced by older teammates to start and continue to gamble and in Sweden, an environment in which betting is normalised and there are regular talks about gambling has been associated with ‘at risk for gambling problems’ for athletes (Vinberg et al., 2020). There are cases of professional athletes who suffered with gambling addictions throughout their sporting careers and have faced fines and bans.
Examples of those from the UK who have faced addiction issues are: Wayne Rooney and Paul Merson, both former professional footballers. Michael Chopra, former professional footballer, Andros Townsend, current professional footballer, Chris Wood, current professional cricketer and Rob Howley, former Wales international Rugby Union player and coach, have all been charged with betting integrity breaches alongside addiction.
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