THE FA yesterday pulled the plug on a £4m-a-year sponsorship with Ladbrokes Coral citing concerns over the gambling industry’s influence over the national game but, to borrow from horse racing parlance, the chances of the Scottish game doing likewise were being effectively dismissed last night as a non-runner. 

Sources close to the SFA - who receive £500,000-a-year from William Hill as title sponsor for the Scottish Cup and more besides for their tie in with the South Stand at Hampden and as a category partner - for the national teams were stressing the ‘long and enduring’ relationship they have had with the bookmaker, and also the joint memorandum of understanding between the governing body and the bookmakers of football integrity issues, and input on community relations and mental health.

On the subject of horse racing, there is a sport propped up by the betting industry which seems to manage any potential integrity issues effectively enough. 

As for the SPFL - which has Ladbrokes as its title sponsor - and its teams also playing in the Betfred Cup - sources within that organisation insisted too that betting companies were playing a crucial role in fostering the sport in this country, rather than in any way bringing the game into disrepute. 

One conclusion which could perhaps be drawn is that the FA found it rather easier to dispense with £4m a year when their total annual sponsorship and broadcasting income is in the region of £5bn.

Ralph Topping, the outgoing chairman of the SPFL, is a veteran of the betting industry who rose from the shop floor at Mount Florida to become chief executive of William Hill.

He said that players being unable to abide by hardline betting rules - the most high profile being Joey Barton of now Rangers and Burnley - did not mean that these companies weren’t providing a service to the sport in this country. Pulling the plug on betting sponsorship was strange, considering that gambling is a global marketplace and these firms do more than most to police who use their sites. 

“There is no groundswell of feeling that says it is going to end,” Topping told Herald Sport.  

“What we have is a game in England is awash with money and the game in Scotland isn’t. We have a few very good sponsors up in Scotland who have been tremendously supportive to the game. The people who actually use betting shops and use betting on line actually like the game of football, like to express an opinion and like to have a bet on it. We have had a few instances of people in the game having a bet when they know what the rules are and they have been duly reported by bookmakers and others. 

"Bookmakers have a useful role in policing the game,” he added.

“So the FA and others need to realise that if a footballer wants to make a bet he can online and make a bet with a certain bookmaker. 
Ladbrokes are quality sponsors and are possibly shocked by all this. But there is certainly no groundswell of opinion in Scotland that this needs to end. 

“Having been someone who sponsored the FA Cup before, I’m a bit surprised by it all because bookmakers I think are good at giving tournaments huge profile. It is a global  marketplace, players know the rules, officials know the rules. 

"If people seriously think they can stop people having a bet just by banning betting companies from sponsoring competitions then they are behaving in a very strange way.

“There are a number of worlds you can live in but in the real one the SkyBet Championship was on its knees and didn’t have a sponsor  before Sky came to the rescue and their sponsor SkyBet. There are a lot of people who like a bet in this world and the rules are there for footballers and officials. I think everybody knows that you have to adhere to them. 

“Look a the Scottish Cup final, you can’t tell me the interest in the competition hasn’t grown in the life of the Ladbrokes sponsorship. If that money gets taken out of the game in Scotland, Celtic, Rangers, Hearts and Hibs don’t suffer, it is smaller clubs like Raith Rovers who have their own cash problems. Are they bad sponsors? That is the question. 
Do they do the game a disservice? 

"I look at it a different way. I think they do the game a great service and if anyone is seriously upset about it, then it is down to people to take control of their own lives in this regard. I have always said it is in black and white and if people stop out of line they deserve to get punished. 

“I was eight years with the SFA and I loved a bet, but being a good policeman’s son I never bet on football. It is people who don’t adhere to the rules that are the issue. Bookmakers are under very strong regulation. The regulator will come down on them like a tonne of bricks as does the advertising standards commission. I can only think that the FA has a big sponsor lined up.” 

OUT NOW: Episode three of the brand new Herald Sport podcast. Download for free and subscribe, just search for 'Herald Sport Podcast' on iTunes, Apple Podcast app and PodBean on Android and Web

DOWNLOAD and subscribe to the new Herald Sport Podcast for free. This week we discuss, ice hockey, Doddie Weir and Celtic and Rangers in Europe. 

Download this episode (right click and save)