Over the course of the past few years, we have seen many sports figures come forward to announce their struggles with problem gambling. In the sports industry, compulsive gambling is becoming a huge issue, and it is important for league officials to take steps to ensuring that players are responsible when it comes to betting, wagering on casino games and playing pokies.

This week, the A-League announced that it will be adopting a responsible gambling education program for its players. Players on Australian and New Zealand teams will take part in training courses that will teach them about the best practices to ensuring that they are able to gamble safely. Training will be provided by the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation as part of the induction program for Professional Football Australia.

In this program, players are taught the ins and outs of the sports industry, acquainting them with regulations they should abide by and expectations that they must live up to. So, it makes sense that players are taught about responsible gambling at this point in their football careers.

During the training, representatives from the Responsible Gambling Foundation will guide players in exploring a number of issues relating to problem gambling. For example, they will teach them how to identify the signs of problem gambling and provide them with information about support services. Other important lessons will include seminars about financial literacy and code of conduct training.

The first club to take part in the training was Wellington Phoenix. According to the Responsible Gambling Foundation, they responded well to the training. So, the program is off to a great start, as more teams prepare to undergo responsible gambling training. The program sounds like a great way to prevent sport figures from developing dangerous compulsive gambling habits.

We are hopeful that it will make a difference in problem gambling rate among athletes.

About the Author

George Anderson
Author George, has over 25+ years’ experience in the Pokies and Casinos industry throughout Australia and New Zealand. Loves to research new Pokies games on the block and follows announcements from top industry providers about their upcoming releases. As soon as a new interesting pokie game appears on his radar, George is there to check it out and give you the scoop before anyone else and tell you about all casino sites where can play the latest game. Before this gig, George worked as Pokie game tester, making him an ideal candidate for this genre of work. He is also an animal lover and a proud owner of three dogs.