Joey Barton, whose football career was in effect ended early by his suspension last year for gambling, now says the ban on players betting is hypocritical given the game’s dependence on gambling sponsorship and that half of all players could be breaching the rule anyway. He sharply made that point at the time of his 18-month ban last April, later reduced to 13 months; pointing out the Football Association, which solemnly imposed the suspension on him, was sponsored by Ladbrokes.

Barton argues the rule, which is aimed at preventing match-fixing, is too absolute, because players like him casually or even addictively gambling on matches are a world away from taking money to throw or fix games. But given huge wages and match-fixing’s existential danger, there will be no moves to relax the rules. The FA and leagues may see Barton’s protest as a sign the ban is hurting, so it must be working.

Yet Barton has a much more urgently valid argument about the relentless marketing, advertising and sponsorship by betting companies. The use of clubs’ kits as billboards and the constant, shouty adverts during the broadcast of football matches and other sports (BT Sport’s coverage of Ashes cricket being a glaring example) has become a constant haranguing of supporters to bet, a tendency which, as Barton says, was already “culturally ingrained”.

Joey Barton claims at least half of all footballers are breaking FA betting rules Read more

Serial warnings are being sounded against this corporate campaign to convert fans into gamblers but the sports themselves are banking the money and not inclined to care. The Gambling Commission warned last year that British people lost £13bn gambling and that more than two million people had a problem or were at risk of addiction. That is a hideous trauma which can result in people losing relationships, homes and their mental health. Dr Sean Cowlishaw of Bristol university found that one in four men aged 18-24 – the prime target group for the bookies’ marketing – displayed signs of a gambling problem.

The risks of excessive gambling were recognised for decades, the bookies restricted in their marketing, their high street windows frosted up, until the last Labour government ceded to their lobbying and relaxed the rules with the 2005 Gambling Act.

In the deluge since then the betting companies, many registered in offshore tax havens, have worked ruthlessly to soak the urge to bet into the very experience of being a supporter. Skybet, the betting division of BSkyB which already makes fortunes from its exclusive buy-up of live TV rights, made that explicit with its endlessly repeated slogan: “It matters more when there is money on it.”

That is a highly contestable claim – having a fiver on a game arguably makes it mean less than heartfelt involvement as a supporter – yet the English Football League in effect endorses this emotional manipulation by twinning the very name of its competition with SkyBet.

The FA's new policy was based on the need to uphold the rule against players betting, not to prevent the indoctrination of fans

In April 2016, when the FA unveiled its reported £4m per year sponsorship deal, the Ladbrokes chief executive, Jim Mullen, did not attempt to hide his central purpose. Describing football as “the holy grail of sporting sponsorship opportunities,” he said the company wanted to be “at the beating heart of the beautiful game,” and that his aim had been to “ramp up our marketing spend in those places where we know our customers are engaged. Being at the heart of football in this country is precisely what I had in mind.”

Two months after its ban on Barton and his accusation of two-facedness, football’s governing body suddenly ended that four-year deal, announcing a policy not to “partner” with betting companies. The FA’s policy, its chairman, Greg Clarke, explained, was based on the need to uphold the rule against players betting, not to prevent the indoctrination of fans.

EFL’s extended deal with bookmaker draws criticism from campaigners Read more

The EFL, though, said brazenly at the time it was “of the firm belief there is no conflict in having a commercial relationship with the gaming industry”. The SkyBet partnership will continue, as will the sponsorships of clubs by myriad gambling companies. Barton bitterly pointed out in his BBC interview that the Premier League is also drenched in betting sponsorship and advertising; its clubs, mostly owned by billionaires, feasting on the most lucrative TV deals ever, cannot be said to need the money.

A dangerous culture is being stamped into British sport, that it matters more when there is money on it. Barton’s fall illustrates its power, that even young men who are prohibited by their professional rules from gambling and risk career ruination find it impossible to resist. It is an epidemic and someone needs to get a grip.