Edinburgh City support project aiming to ban betting ads and sponsors
- Published
Edinburgh City are playing their home games at Ainslie Park while Meadowbank is being redeveloped
Edinburgh City are supporting a campaign to end gambling advertising and sponsorship in football.
The Big Step is part of charity Gambling with Lives and has garnered support from politicians amid concerns over mental health.
Betting firms have many sponsorships with clubs and tournaments.
"We decided it was time to adopt an ethical approach to all our partnerships," said the Scottish League Two club's chairman Jim Brown.
"The pandemic has shown just how much football has the potential to be an immense power for good, so it makes sense to us to reinforce only positive messages both for physical and mental health."
Founder of The Big Step James Grimes added: "For most of us involved with The Big Step, the harmful relationship between gambling and football was the gateway for years of addiction - if only our clubs had taken this stance, things may have been different for us.
"Football doesn't promote tobacco because of the health risks - it's now time more for more clubs to replicate ECFC's commendable stance on advertising gambling which is risking the health of millions of young fans."