Australian Football League Players Urged To Knock Back Pokies Money

Australian Football League players have been urged to keep "tainted" pokies money out of their pay packets "as they negotiate a new deal with league bosses," according to Baker & Warner of the HERALD SUN. The game’s 800 players "are seeking to be paid a set percen­tage of footy’s rising riches." Reverend Tim Costello, of the Alliance for Gambling ­Reform, will seek a meeting with AFL Players’ Association CEO Paul Marsh "before a deal is struck." He said, "The AFL and the clubs have completely dropped the ball on this issue. I hope the players’ association has the guts and the foresight to take a stand." The Alliance, "through its association with crossbench senators Nick Xenophon and Andrew Wilkie, has put pokies reform back on the federal political agenda." Nine Victorian AFL clubs take about A$90M ($69M) from gamblers’ pockets annually, "while the Queensland clubs stake in gaming takes the AFL industry’s annual take" to about $100M ($76.6M) (HERALD SUN, 8/9).