The BGC says betting on the World Cup is normal for some people, but adds that the tournament has “sparked baseless allegations against those who bet and betting operators.”

Authored by BGC Chairman Brigid Simmonds OBE, the article accuses anti-gaming lobbyists of being backed by poorly informed commentators, who claw at “extreme reasons” to substantiate the gambling harm the World Cup will cause.

Simmonds cites statistics from an assessment of betting in the UK by an independent regulator, saying that despite 22.5 million adults either placing a bet, playing the lottery or gaming online, the rate of problem gambling in the country only stands at 0.3%.