UK racing is facing a media and political backlash for its decision to host the 2020 Cheltenham Festival in early March, as COVID-19 cases began to spread across the country. At Monday’s ‘UK Coronavirus Briefing’, Angela McLean – the government’s deputy Chief Medical Advisor – stated that an inquiry should be held post-lockdown on the ‘epidemiological consequences’ of UK sports maintaining …
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GVC Holdings Director of Regulatory Affairs Martin Lycka explains how 2020 events have handed the industry a crisis agenda that incumbents must accept and match with responsibility and good faith… The stakes have never been placed this high on operator conduct. ______________________ Sunday morning – end of winter. With the NHL and the NBA regular seasons entering their final quarter, …
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In support of both staff and patients during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Denise Coates Foundation has given a £10m grant to the University Hospitals of North Midlands (UHNM) charity. The funds will be used to support a number of schemes aimed at enhancing patient care and supporting staff at both Royal Stoke Hospital and County Hospital in Stafford. bet365’s global …
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The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has revealed that this weekend’s ‘Virtual Grand National’ (Saturday 4 April) raised ‘over £2.6 million’ in donations for NHS charities. The BGC said the event to replace UK racing’s marquee meeting was as an ‘unbridled success’, and was left delighted with the level of public engagement which saw a reported 4.8 million viewers tune-in to …
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The Jockey Club has confirmed that it will donate 10,000 tickets to the NHS and social care sector in Merseyside for the first day of the 2021 Randox Health Grand National Festival at Aintree. The racecourse group, which owns Aintree racecourse, has also revealed that the first day of next year’s Festival will be renamed as Liverpool’s NHS Day in …
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Michael Dugher, Chief Executive of single industry representative body the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), has stated that UK gambling will support the government in a time of national crisis. On Friday, the BGC published its ‘compulsory action plan‘ outlining 10 measures strengthening industry social responsibility and consumer standards, which all BGC members will adhere to during the COVID-19 pandemic. …
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Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer, has declared that the UK government will take a ‘wartime approach’ to safeguard the UK economy and businesses of all sizes with a package of new measures. Flanked by PM Boris Johnson, Sunak announced that the Treasury department had reserved £330 billion in business loans (equivalent to 15% of GDP), helping the UK economy …
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The English Football League (EFL) has extended its partnership with Mind (Mind.org.uk), continuing support for the mental health charity’s flagship ‘On Your Side’ campaign. Operating since 2012, Mind seeks to raise funds improving UK support networks and volunteer training programmes tackling the complexities of mental health issues and its impacts on victims’ families, friends and communities. Partnering with the EFL in 2018, …
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Neil McArthur, Chief Executive of the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC), accompanied by Chairman Dr Bill Moyes, yesterday gave evidence to the House of Lords Select Committee investigating the ‘social and economic impact of the Gambling Industry’. A two-hour hearing saw McArthur and Moyes detail industry intricacies and diverse social factors attached to regulating the UK gambling sector amid a backdrop …
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2020 begins with no respite for UK betting leadership, as the industry suffers another weekend of frontpage headlines as a Sunday Times investigation reveals that UK betting firms engaged with the ‘breached data’ of the ‘Learning Records Service’ educational index, however the Betting and Gaming Council has dismissed the coverage as ‘untrue’. The database contained the names, ages and addresses …
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