Call for action on betting surge
Luke Randall
Evangelical organisation Christian Action Research and Education (CARE) is calling for the government to ‘step in and hold the betting industry to account,’ following the revelation that the number of gambling adverts featured during the Premier League season's opening weekend has tripled since last year.
A study by the University of Bristol, funded by Gamble Aware, found that the opening round of fixtures across the weekend of 17 August saw 29,000 advertisements promoting gambling across the ten matches, marking a 165% increase on the previous year. West Ham’s evening clash with Aston Villa featured 6,500 ads, which works out to about 30 every minute.
sport watch
Do Sunday convictions make or break Christian athletes?
Luke Randall
This summer’s Paris Olympic Games saw much made of Scottish runner Eric Liddell’s gold medal triumph in the 400-metre race in the same city 100 years ago.
There are many athletes who profess to having a Christian faith today, as was seen recently at the Olympics, as well as in some of England’s footballers, and perhaps most notably, the world’s best golfer, Scottie Scheffler.
sport watch
What do football managers teach us about grace?
Rosie Woodbridge
The fate of football managers has filled our sports news feeds in recent days.
Taking the headlines, of course, is the appointment of new England manager Thomas Tuchel. Many will be pleased with the selection given his experience and success, being the man who brought Chelsea to Champions League victory in 2021. Some, however, will feel that there has been a sacrifice of principle; choosing success at the expense of homegrown English managerial talent. The hope is victory at the 2026 World Cup, finally ending England’s 60 year drought.
What Wimbledon taught me about pressure - and the cross
The first two weeks in July make up the best fortnight of the year for British tennis fans. The sun is (hopefully) shining, the barbecues are sizzling and most importantly, Wimbledon is plastered all over the nation’s top two TV channels.
What a Wimbledon it has been so far. At the time of writing, a record-equalling number of seeds have fallen in the first couple of days, others have barely survived, while several of the favourites remain on course to provide blockbuster entertainment in the latter stages.