‘Ground-breaking’ gambling awareness programme that featured ex-Liverpool player who ran up over €1m in debts hailed
Players’ union chief Stephen McGuinness believes his members now have a greater awareness of the pitfalls of gambling.More than 1,250 players, FAI staff, and club and match officials have just completed a gambling awareness course.It’s part of a three-year programme between the League of Ireland and EPIC - funded by Paddy Power-owner Flutter - which delivers 70 workshops annually and will reach over 2,000 participants each year.As part of the course, former Liverpool defender Dominic Matteo spoke with current League of Ireland stars about the dangers of gambling.Matteo wrote in his autobiography about how he ran up gambling debts of more than €1million.According to PFA Ireland general secretary McGuinness: “It is great to see the significant impact this programme is having in supporting and guiding players.“Feedback from our members has been extremely positive, particularly to the real‑life experience EPIC bring as an independent third party.“This type of education is vital in helping players identify problem gambling behaviours and avoid the pitfalls that can arise.“We’re also looking forward to the impact the programme will have on academy players and to former PFA Ireland members sharing their personal stories as part of the training going forward.”Not only does the programme teach about gambling awareness, but it also informs about the telltale signs to look out for in teammates.In total, 32 sessions were delivered to senior League of Ireland teams (20 men’s and 12 women’s), while 26 sessions saw LOI Academy clubs in attendance.There were 10 more sessions for Women's Development League senior teams, one to League of Ireland Match Officials and one to FAI staff.According to EPIC, the first phase of the programme showed that 89 percent of male and female participants are now confident they can recognise signs of harmful gambling behaviour and know how to approach those conversations.Separately, 94 percent of players reported excellent awareness of FAI and UEFA integrity regulations - a significant jump from 71 percent (men) and 53 percent (women) before attending.League of Ireland director Mark Scanlon said: “We were delighted to see the initial impact of our partnership with EPIC and the early results validate our commitment to proactive education.“The jump in integrity awareness – particularly among our women's teams, from 53 percent to 94 percent – shows this education is genuinely landing with players and making a real difference.“We look forward to rolling out the education programme across our clubs academy teams over the next few months and we're confident this prevention-based approach will have a significant impact over the three years of this partnership.”Click here to sign up to our sport newsletter, bringing you the top stories and biggest headlines from Ireland and beyond.
