THE £1/4 BILLION FOOTBALL MATCH
CEO predicts that England failing to qualify for Euro 2008 could cost the gambling industry £250million
London, 20th November - Even though England seem to have wrestled qualification from the jaws of elimination following Israel’s win over Russia on Saturday night, bookmakers around the land are desperate for Steve McLaren’s men to finish the job against Croatia tomorrow. The betting industry is heavily reliant on England qualifying for major tournaments as turnover on these events has spiraled over the last decade. However, there is a very real danger that this could be the first time since the1984 European Championships where no side from the Home Nations has taken part.
“A major football tournament without England would be like Christmas without turkey for us bookmakers”, says Sporting Index CEO Richard Glynn. ”I’ve seen experts forecasting that £750 million could be gambled on this tournament and I reckon you can shave at least a third off if England fail to make it. There simply won’t be the interest levels.”
If media reports are to be believed then the UK gambled £40 million on World Cup 1994 and then a further £85 million four years later on France 1998. The amount gambled on more recent tournaments is said to have risen dramatically with £250 million supposedly wagered on Japan 2002 and an extraordinary £1 billion bet on Germany 2006.
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