Premier League teams set to avoid betting sponsor ban for shirts

Matthew Badrov01/07/2022 5:55 am30/06/2022

According to The Times, the UK government is dropping proposals to ban English Premier League sides from having betting firms as shirt sponsors.

Speculation over the long-term viability of gambling sponsors in the game has been mounting after the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) launched a review of the Gambling Act in December 2020. At the time, multiple UK media outlets reported that shirt sponsorships could be outlawed by 2023.

At the end of March, The Telegraph reported that 20 English Football League (EFL) and non-league clubs had called on the government to push ahead with banning gambling sponsorship on shirts.

The letter from the clubs, coordinated by the Gambling With Lives campaign group, was the latest effort from betting harm awareness campaigners reportedly fearful the government was having second thoughts over radical reforms.

In April, the UK’s Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) announced plans to ban betting adverts from featuring sports stars and social media influencers. Betting firms will also be prevented from including teams’ official kits and stadiums in any potential campaigns, as well as showing video game content.

The measures, which kick in from October 1, were part of a wide-ranging list of new regulations intended to reduce the appeal of gambling industry marketing to those aged under 18.

In May, the BBC reported a proposal to outlaw shirt sponsorship deals with betting brands had been included in a government draft whitepaper. In the same month, The Times reported that ministers were expected to water down those plans after a backlash from the gambling industry

Now, according to The Times, the proposal to stop gambling companies from sponsoring club shirts have been ditched. This includes the top-tier Premier League, though the government is reportedly hoping to reach a voluntary agreement with clubs and is keeping the option of legislation in reserve.

Plans for a mandatory levy on the gambling industry to fund research and treatment of addiction, based on the ‘polluter pays’ principle, have also purportedly been rejected.

The government has said it will publish the white paper as part of its review of gambling legislation in the coming weeks.

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South Canberra FC Breaks the Mold: Equity-Driven Model Earns ‘Club Changer’ Honour

Declan Chan30/04/2026 6:15 am29/04/2026

Image Credit: SCFC

South Canberra Football Club has been named Club Changer of the Month for April, in a recognition that reflects a broader shift across Australian football toward rewarding clubs that are actively dismantling the structural barriers limiting women’s access to the game.

The AFC Women’s Asian Cup has just delivered record crowds and unprecedented visibility for women’s football in Australia, and the Club Changer program is now asking what comes next. Its decision to name South Canberra Football Club as Club Changer of the Month for April signals a clear shift in how the program defines contribution: away from participation numbers alone, and toward the equity frameworks that determine whether women stay in the game once they arrive.

South Canberra FC built that framework from the ground up. Established in 2021, the club set out to give women and female-identifying players a safe, inclusive environment to play football at any level. It runs entirely on volunteers, operates as a not-for-profit, and is governed by an all-female committee with 13 of its 14 coaches identifying as female.

Building the infrastructure of inclusion

In 2026, the club secured grant funding and put it to work immediately. Two coaches are completing their C Licence qualification, and ten coaches, players and community members have undertaken the Foundations of Football course, which directly tackles the cost and accessibility barriers that exclude women out of coaching pathways.

The club also commissioned a female-specific strength and conditioning program with sports physiotherapists ahead of the 2026 season, targeting injury prevention and explicitly supporting players returning after childbirth.

SCFC’s leadership team draws from LGBTIQ+ individuals, First Nations people and veterans, strengthening the club’s connection to the communities it was built to represent.

The Club Changer program is backing clubs that do this work- clubs that treat equity as infrastructure rather than aspiration. At a moment when Australian football is under pressure to turn its biggest-ever surge of women’s interest into something lasting, SCFC’s model offers a clear answer to the question of how.

Football NSW announces 2026 First Nations Scholarships as pathway access program enters new phase

Declan Chan29/04/2026 2:22 pm29/04/2026

Image Credit: Football NSW

Football NSW has announced the recipients of its 2026 First Nations Scholarships, with ten emerging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander players from metropolitan and regional NSW receiving support designed to reduce the financial and structural barriers that have historically limited First Nations participation across the football pathway.

The scholarship program, developed and assessed in collaboration with the Football NSW Indigenous Advisory Group, targets players across both elite and development environments – recognising that talent identification alone is insufficient without the resources to support progression once players are identified.

Co-Chair of the Indigenous Advisory Group Bianca Dufty said the calibre of this year’s recipients reflected the depth of First Nations football talent across the state, and the importance of structured support in converting that talent into long-term participation.

“Their dedication to football and the desire to be role models for younger Aboriginal footballers in their communities is to be celebrated,” Dufty said. “I’m confident we will see some of these talented footballers in the A-League and national teams in the future.”

Beyond the pitch and into the pipeline

The 2026 cohort spans both metropolitan clubs and regional associations, an intentional distribution that acknowledges the particular barriers facing First Nations players outside major population centres, where access to development programs, qualified coaching and pathway competitions is more limited and the cost of participation more prohibitive.

The next phase of the program will introduce First Nations coaching scholarships, extending the initiative’s reach beyond playing pathways and into the coaching and administration pipeline – areas where Indigenous representation remains among the lowest in the game.

The structural logic is clear. Scholarships that reduce financial barriers at the entry point of elite pathways matter most when they are part of a sustained ecosystem of support rather than isolated gestures. Football NSW’s collaboration with the Indigenous Advisory Group provides that continuity, ensuring the program is shaped by the communities it is designed to serve.