Rangers official partner causes anger in SNP politician after huge fine

Fri 24 March 2023 8:40, UK

Scottish National Party (SNP) politician Ronnie Cowan has hit out at 32Red, an official partner of Rangers, after the company was slapped with a multi-million fine, according to the Scottish Daily Mail.

The Gambling Commission has handed 32Red a £4.2million fine for social responsibility and money laundering failures, with Cowan demanding that stricter regulation is put in place to avoid such problems.

Fellow betting brand Platinum Gaming was also fined £2.9m for their failures in this area, with an impending White Paper expected to bring about much stricter regulation in sports betting advertising and sponsorship.

"The UK Government face fresh calls to crack down on gambling advertising in football after Rangers' main shirt sponsor was fined £4million for multiple breaches of social responsibility and money laundering rules," reported the Scottish Daily Mail (page 79, 24 March). "The Gambling Commission fined 32Red £4.2m while Platinum Gaming, which is also part of Kindred Group, will pay £2.9m.

"Rangers' shirt sponsors since 2014, 32Red were hammered for failing to identify customers at risk of harm and failure to identify and protect potential problem gamblers. Celtic are also sponsored by betting firm Dafabet and MP Ronnie Cowan argues that advertising on the front of shirts 'normalises the industry.'

"Vice-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Gambling Related Harm, the Inverclyde MP plans to press home the case for a ban in talks with Gambling Minister Stuart Andrew. 'These fines highlight the problem, but don't address the causes,' said Cowan, son of former Scotland international and Morton legend Jimmy. 'The damage here has already been done. The Government White Paper on gambling reform is long overdue and it needs to provide stricter regulation, so we don't get to this point in the first place.'"

More distractions

Rangers will want to be fully focused on their Scottish Premiership chase of league leaders Celtic in the months to come, but the latest issue involving their partner 32Red has provided another annoying distraction.

It comes not long after it was decided that no away supporters will be allowed to travel to the last two Old Firm matches of the season, which will take place at Celtic Park and Ibrox respectively.

Rangers manager Michael Beale will only want to discuss matters on the pitch, but with such a high-profile club, there are always going to be issues like this that he will have to deal with.

Like countless other clubs across the globe, Rangers undoubtedly rely heavily on their partnership with 32Red, but the impending White Paper could see partnerships like this dwindle in the coming years, or at least be limited to how much gambling the clubs can promote.

In other Rangers news, one first-team player is "likely to sign" a new deal, with his current contract expiring at the end of the season.

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