The World Cup’s hidden cost

Last weekend, an estimated 120,000 extra pints were pulled across Scotland in “record breaking sales” to accompany the nation’s opening World Cup match against Haiti. Meanwhile, the event is predicted to be the biggest betting event ever, with more than $50 billion expected to be placed in wagers worldwide.  

And while I wholeheartedly support the concept of national pride and community cohesion – and even the odd pint – what lies beyond these stats that purport to exemplify exactly that, troubles me deeply. 

There is a raft of well-researched evidence about the impact of gambling and alcohol consumption – things that are actively encouraged during the World Cup – on population behaviour and health. 

And these aren’t just stand-alone issues. Alcohol and gambling reinforce each other with people who drink while betting much more likely to take risks and experience problems. There is also a well-evidenced correlation between an increase in alcohol consumption and domestic abuse incidents, with a further correlation specifically related to football. For example, one study found that alcohol-related abuse increased by a whopping 47% when England win a big championship football match, with domestic abuse helpline providers also reporting an increase in calls. 

Add to this extended opening hours and we are layering increased alcohol availability onto a major sporting event and wall‑to‑wall gambling advertising – a perfect storm. 

I have said this before and I’ll say it again – this is not the fault of individuals. The damaging impacts of alcohol and gambling on people, their families, friends, and communities are driven by a profit-hungry industry that is seizing a highly commercial opportunity.  

It is a sensible business model; industry drives sales and makes its profit by spending billions on advertising and marketing to convince us to buy and consume the products. A huge amount of resource is then poured into lobbying the Government to make sure that access to those products is as easy as possible.  

Nothing wrong with that in principle – industry survives and thrives on profit. However, when you realise that this profit is actually reliant on causing people harm, for me, it becomes uncomfortable.   

We know for example that hundreds of lives are lost to gambling every year, with many more impacted by mental health and financial difficulties. Meanwhile alcohol causes more than 200 different diseases and injuries, including 46 cases of cancer every day in the UK. We know too that extending licensing hours is related to an increase in alcohol-related ambulance call-outs and an increase in crime. We also know that a ban on alcohol advertising drastically reduces the number of people becoming intoxicated and that when football is shown on ITV, more bets are placed than when it is shown on the BBC.  

Proof if we needed it that this potent mix of advertising and availability does what it is designed to do – drive consumption. 

In turn increased consumption turns into habitualisation which normalises the behaviour. It therefore follows that any harm resulting from that consumption will also be normalised – and efforts to reduce that harm will likely be met with resistance.  

As a Director of Public Health, I am responsible for the health and wellbeing of residents in my area.  

There are many things that make my job hard and a lot of those things I can’t control. However, there are tried and tested things that can help, based on what we know has worked to reduce the harm caused by smoking: marketing and licensing restrictions; pricing increases; lobbying restrictions; tax rises; public health campaigns free from industry influence – all proven to reduce the availability, affordability, and accessibility of products – like alcohol and gambling – that cause harm. 

Far from curbing people’s freedom, measures like these protect us, positively giving us the freedom to live a healthier, happier life. It is too late for this World Cup – but we need to keep repeating these messages again and again in the intervening years so that hopefully, when it comes to communities coming together to celebrate the World Cup’s centenary in 2030, there will be less people hurt in the process.