The body responsible for Scottish women’s football has pledged to keep both the alcohol and gambling industries away from the game, despite their willingness to ink sponsorship deals.
It turns out that large alcohol companies and gambling operators are trying to get more involved in women’s football, especially considering the fact that the Scotland Women’s national team participated in UEFA Women’s Championship in 2017 and their success to qualify for 2018 World Cup in France.
We’re giving the Scotland Women’s national football team extra funding to train full-time for the FIFA 2019 World Cup ⚽️ #ourgirlsourgame #SWNT #FIFAWWC pic.twitter.com/MulPXW6Y1J
— Scottish Government (@scotgov) September 26, 2018
In an interview for Scotland on Sunday, the chair of Scottish Women’s Football – Vivienne MacLaren – said that the organisation which is engaged in looking after domestic competitions already turned down sponsorship deals with gambling and alcohol companies and said it would continue to do so. The policy followed by the women’s football governing body is quite different from the one of the men’s game, where the major football competitions in Scotland have gambling operators as sponsors, including the William Hill Scottish Cup, the Ladbrokes Premiership and the BetFred Cup.
Ms. MacLaren explained that she knew why Scottish football clubs take sponsorship money from both gambling and alcohol giants, especially considering the fact that these companies were the only ones with budgets large enough to spend on football sponsorship deals. She, however, explained that Scottish women’s football is trying to offer something different to local people.
Women’s Football in Scotland Turns Down Gambling Sponsorships
According to Ms. MacLaren, gambling and alcohol are currently the main scourges for Scottish citizens. Considering the fact that a substantial part of the members of Scottish Women’s Football are under-aged individuals, the grassroots body responsible for the game considered its duty to make sure that gambling and alcohol brands are not given the chance to reach such individuals through football.
The Scottish Government revealed that it would provide the national team with additional funding ahead of the 2019 World Cup, which will allow the squad to train full-time. Ms. MacLaren explained that bringing different types of sponsors to women’s football means that the latter must be posed as a different proposition.
Scotland's women's football team won't accept sponsorship deals for alcohol or gambling companies says @vivienne7
She says @ScotWFootball has a duty to associate only with positive brands. Could or should the men's game follow suit? #bbcgms 0750— Gary Robertson (@BBCGaryR) October 1, 2018
It was only last week when Diageo, a British multinational alcoholic beverage company, and the Scottish Football Association (SFA) rolled out a campaign aimed at promoting responsible drinking, called Drink Positive. Reportedly, the campaign is set to use the William Hill Scottish Cup in order to encourage football officials, players and fans to raise their awareness about the negative effects which alcohol could have on their lives and to encourage moderate drinking.
Following the launch of the initiative, the Chief Executive Officer of Alcohol Focus Scotland, Alison Douglas, who is also known as a fierce critic of the link between SFA and Diageo, said that alcohol marketing should have no place in sport. According to Ms. Douglas, this partnership would imply that drinking is part of a healthy and active life, which is not true.
- Author
Olivia Cole
