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Paddy Power Co-Founder Stewart Kenny, who started the company with John Corcoran and David Power back in 1988, has spoke out against the company’s CEO, Peter Jackson, and said that changes need to be made due to gambling being “normalised” for children.
Peter Jackson’s statement
The Paddy Power CEO had recently spoke out against tighter restrictions in the gambling market, saying:“I’m not sure that necessarily is the right answer because it will be a place where potentially some of the offshore or illegal bookmakers could try to encroach on a market, and that isn’t helpful if you’ve got aggressive, irresponsible operators. We’ll see where things end up in Ireland.”However, Kenny has called out Jackson in no uncertain terms, saying that on this issue, the Chief Executive Officer was “completely wrong”.
Alienating
Speaking on the issue, Kenny pulled no punches, saying:“There needs to be a radical change. It’s normalizing gambling for kids. I don’t think any parent in the country really appreciates being bombarded with the amount of gambling advertising.“I don’t even think it’s in the interests of the betting industry because I think it’s alienating them from all the parents in the country.”Kenny went on to tackle Jackson’s comments directly, adding:There used to be [an issue with illegal operators] in the ’80s, when [there] was a 20% betting tax, the country was rife with illegal operators, but that isn’t the case any longer.”The protection of the young has become a focus for many, with the United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC) and the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) both calling out operators who were seen to be offering or advertising products that could be considered being aimed at children.Jackson is one of the first high profile people within the industry to speak out in favour of increased regulation, but is unlikely to be the last.