Addressing this issue is delicate and difficult, because in the globalization of football it is an element that is essential for many teams, due to the economic income that it represents. It was, however, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson who wanted bookmaker sponsorships to disappear from English team shirts for the 2023-2024 season.

It will not be easy, due to the long-term contracts that are signed and that if they are canceled will imply lawsuits for non-compliance. At the moment, 9 out of 20 Premier League teams are linked to betting and as many as 15 out of 24 in what we would call the second division. If the idea were to prosper, each team would have a gap of approximately US$47 million per season. The intention has a utopian tinge for now. There is a striking detail in the matter of the English. A caveat is the origin of online betting. The true owners are not known, many of them appear in tax havens and do not contribute anything in taxes to the State. The teams, as it happens with financial entities —not all—, never find out the origin of the money, they only capture and to another story.

Luckily here in Colombia Coljuegos gives license for bookmakers. But I don't know if it monitors the financial year and the returns from these operations and aid for health and education are publicly known —and should be. Or does anyone know?, to get out of my ignorance.

Gambling was always typical of the human being. Horses, greyhounds, cockfights. Here we had our own 5 and 6 for the racetracks and even Totogol for soccer. So there's nothing weird about it. I remember, for example, that in El Campín, in the sixties, the early risers at the stadium who watched preliminaries, spread out their ruanas and played cards or bet on the first corner kick, the first sent-off, the first goal. I know Recently, a Boca Juniors player, Zeballos, suffered a serious injury due to an inconsiderate tackle by a rival. It happened in the first few minutes and some snitch raised the question of whether there was a bet, with a time limit, to see a red card.

Everything is under investigation. It is known that English players bet on the results, counted, and surprised, by some Spanish players in the Premier. Presumably they were betting on games where their team was not. Who knows. I think this question can cause hives in the middle.

Do Colombian referees and VAR handlers and/or manipulators make bets on home football games? I would say, to conclude, that the coexistence of betting with soccer is a modern and necessary evil for several actors.