Charity Sporting Chance has revealed that footballers are "resorting to payday loans to fund their gambling habits," according to Ashley Clements of the London DAILY MAIL. Sporting Chance CEO Colin Bland said that players are "so desperate to bet they are taking out short-term loans before turning to the charity for help." Sporting Chance, which "helps sportsmen and women deal with addiction, has dealt with one footballer" who has lost an estimated £7M ($11.3M) in three years of gambling. Bland: "We've had sportsmen who have got caught in the scenario of taking out payday loans to place those bets. We've had several of those over the last couple of years. The vicious circle continues." EPL side Stoke City's Matthew Etherington admitted he "would have turned to payday lenders when he was gambling but because they were not an option he instead went to loan sharks." Etherington, who has reportedly lost £1.5M ($2.4M) in "gambling on greyhounds, horse racing and poker," said, "I don’t think the payday loans were about when I was gambling otherwise I would probably be one of (the players using payday loans) myself" (DAILY MAIL, 10/24).
