The betting giant Bet365 has admitted the footballer Steven Caulker was dropped from work as a pundit on a series it sponsored because of his public statements about gambling.
Caulker, the former QPR and Tottenham centre-back who is currently without a club after leaving Wigan Athletic following four years in Turkey, said he had been signed up for broadcasting work but was dropped because Bet365 was nervous about his “positive work” on gambling addiction.
The comments were revealed by The Big Step, a campaign to end gambling sponsorship and advertising in football.
Caulker, 31, revealed in a Guardian interview in 2017 how he had struggled with gambling, alcohol and depression.
Bet365 said in a statement: “Mr Caulker applied to appear as a guest on a video series solely sponsored by Bet365 which is only published on an online video platform (not TV) by one of our sports publishing partners. During the guest approval process, we became aware of Mr Caulker’s own negative experiences with gambling which he has spoken about openly.
“We welcome the excellent work Mr Caulker has done to raise awareness of problem gambling – however, as a betting company, we felt it would be inappropriate for Mr Caulker to appear on a Bet365 sponsored series of this type.
“In explaining these circumstances, we regret that our position was misstated by our media partner to Mr Caulker.”
The identity of the video platform Caulker was commissioned for is yet to emerge.
Caulker scored on his England debut in a friendly against Sweden in 2012 but in 2021 he transferred to Sierra Leone, whom he now captains.
