Top Footballer Blows Entire £15 Million Fortune On Online Gambling

A Premier League footballer has created quite a stir due to his gambling habits. The footballer whose identity has been protected is reported to have smashed £15 million on his online gambling habit which has plunged him and his family into debt.

Samuel Richardson gets behind the scenes to find out what went wrong with this football player. Click here to read more about Samuel Richardson.

Online Gambling Eats Up £15 Million Fortune

It’s the dream of just about every young man growing up in Britain to make it to the Premier League and play for their favourite football clubs. When you make it to a Premier League team you are guaranteed to make millions of dollars through match fees, club sponsorships and endorsements.

This anonymous football player realized his dream of making it to the Premier League and making millions of dollars. He was able to build a £15 million fortune through his football skills and endorsements. At one stage in his life, he was earning as much as £40,000 per week. However, his addiction to play online casino games got the better of him and saw him run through his entire fortune.

Who is the gambling footballer?

The footballer gambling his fortune away made headlines but his identity has been protected which is a good thing, considering he has a young family who has had to suffer the consequences of his gambling habits.

Apparently, he started playing online casino and table games at a young age and over the years started spending too much time and too much money playing online casino games. While top footballers in the Premier League have their set of fancy cars, this footballer has had to lease his cars because he is unable to afford to buy any of these cars because of his gambling problem.

Family Suffers From Gambling Losses

The footballer’s family was used to a rather plus lifestyle given the fact that he was making £2 million per year. The family was shocked to find out that he had run through £15 million playing online casino games and no longer had the funds to give them the lifestyle they were accustomed to.

The footballer was unable to make mortgage payments on the family home and as a result, the family has been forced to move out to a much smaller rented home. The footballer in question is now desperately trying to get a new football contract as he needs the money coming in to pay his bills and keep his family happy.

Behind The Scenes: Football and Gambling Links

A number of Premier League clubs are sponsored by top gambling operators. The players at these Premier League clubs are given special privileges by these gambling operators and are encouraged to place bets at their online and mobile play casinos.

This footballer was playing for a Premier League club that was sponsored by a gambling brand. A number of football players from this club had online gambling accounts with this gambling brand and are reported to have spent a lot of money betting. This anonymous footballer was one of those who started betting heavily and became a VIP player at the sportsbook.

The sportsbooks encouraged the player to keep betting even though they knew he was losing millions of dollars. They encouraged his betting habit by rolling out special and exclusive perks that ended up encouraging his gambling habit.

Richardson reports that while this anonymous player has made the headlines for running through his £15 million fortune, there are a number of Premier League footballers who are also involved in high stakes betting.

Joey Barton who plays for Burnley received an 18-month ban from football after he was caught in a betting sting operation. Barton admitted that professional football has encouraged a betting culture in the UK and that there were a number of Premier League players who were addicted to online betting.

Barton accused the Football Association (FA) of encouraging this habit by allowing gambling operators to sponsor Premier League clubs.

Conclusion

The FA, Premier League and the UKGC need to work together to come up with a better plan on how to protect football players from a potential gambling addiction.