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AFL’s betting problem is black and white

He is sitting on a couch in front of the TV with a mate when he decides to have a harmless little flutter on the footy.

This is not an ad. This is Collingwood youngster Jaidyn Stephenson in real life, as he described it on Wednesday, and we know what happens next.

But it is an ad. He is the caricature in nine of out of 10 gambling ads. Its always a he. Since objectifying young women became a no-no, advertisings next-best trick is to dumb down young men. The womens role now is to patronise them, but affectionately.

Hes with a mate or mates, bored, easily distracted, impulsive. And hes oblivious to a lame sight gag playing out in the background: the house burning down, maybe. The gag is a disclaimer, saying that you dont want to take this sort of stuff too seriously, after all. Its just one little bet.

Jaidyn Stephenson on Wednsday.

Jaidyn Stephenson on Wednsday.Credit:Joe Armao

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Stephenson may have been few or none of these things, but in the fantasy that the AFL has created around gambling, who can tell fact from fiction? For some time now, fantasy has been an official betting option, a growth industry within a growth industry, ever multiplying multis.

Stephenson, as a footballer, should have known the difference, did know the difference, felt guilty, confessed, and is now paying a massive price. You cant help but feel for him.

But one unintended consequence of the gravity of his suspension is that it has turned the spotlight 180 degrees back onto the AFL and its problematic gambling nexus.

With one hand, they slap down Stephenson for his $36 betting spree. With the other, they take an estimated $10million from online bookmaker Beteasy. At $36, it is recklessness. At $10million, it is good business.

With one hand, they preach moderation in gambling. With the other, they wave through a gambling advertising blitz on TV, radio, in print media, online, all over the AFL's own website and at the grounds, unrelenting and inescapable, until your head spins like poker machine wheels. Gamble responsibly? How about advertise responsibly?

With one hand, the AFL forbid footballers to bet. With the other, they strew temptations to bet in front of young men, traditionally societys highest risk-takers and the incidence is proportionately higher among footballers, who have time and cash to spare and whose whole existence is a continuous exercise in backing themselves. Does anyone really believe that Stephenson is the only footballer to have a wager this year?

The AFL, indeed all major Australian sporting bodies, have explanations for this Janus complex, mostly disingenuous.

Gambling is legal, and in moderation harmless, and is vital to the funding of sport? The same was said of smoking, long since divorced from sport without bankrupting it. The same is said now of pokies, now disappearing.

Gambling companies work with the AFL to police footballers and so safeguard the game from corruption? Firstly, that co-operation, if so noble, should not be contingent on money changing hands. Secondly, how well is it going? Stephenson self-reported transactions that all agree would otherwise have been untraceable.

Jaidyn Stephenson in a happier moment.

Jaidyn Stephenson in a happier moment.Credit:AAP

Collingwood CEO Mark Anderson was asked about Stephensons infractions in the light of the AFLs dependence on gambling and saiRead More – Source

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