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by Glenn Baird - December 17, 2020
Former Newcastle and Cardiff City player, Michael Chopra has spoken up about his battle t=with gambling addiction that saw him thinking about placing bets “as soon as he left the field.”
Chopra scored 119 goals during his 16 years as a professional footballer, during which he played for 10 different clubs.
He finished his career in India, spending two years at Kerala Blasters FC, a club founded in 2014 in time for the inaugural season of the Indian Super League.
Now aged 36, Chopra chose to speak out about the problems he has had as part of GamCare’s TalkBanStop campaign.
“I never ever let anything get in the way of my football but as soon as the whistle went, my mind just suddenly changed and all of a sudden I was thinking about gambling.”
“The more money you earn, the bigger your bets become. I know it’s ridiculous, but I would sit on my own at two, three o’clock in the morning, betting on games in Brazil I’d know nothing about.”
Chopra credits his then manager, Roy Keane, for helping him work his way out of addiction during his spell at Sunderland in 2007 – 2008.
“Then I decided to speak to Roy Keane, he was brilliant,’ he added. ‘He really took his time to speak to me and took time out of training. It was Roy that really got me the help that I needed.”
“There is light at the end of the tunnel. When you’re going through a dark phase you don’t think that. If you’re struggling like I was and need support, head to TalkBanStop.com.”
Whilst it might not be possible to avoid all form of gambling related advertising it is possible to deny yourself access the product that they are selling. For anyone looking to make that first step who wants to gain back some control over their gambling addiction BetBlocker is an app that can be installed on mobile devices, PCs and laptops that denies you access to thousands of gambling sites.
BetBlocker is a registered charity in the UK and, as such it is completely free to install on as many devices as you want.
To learn more you can visit the BetBlocker website.
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland sits to the north-west of mainland Europe. The United Kingdom shares a border with The Republic of Ireland and has coasts on the Atlantic Ocean, Celtic Sea, North Sea, Irish Sea and English Channel. The population of the UK is approaching the 67.6 million mark leading to a fairly densely populated land mass. The gambling sector in the United Kingdom is entirely regulated and licensed by the UKGC – the United Kingdom Gambling Commission. Should players resident In the UK wish to gamble with foreign based operators there is no history of this being treated as a criminal offence, but high levels of protection exist for UK residents playing with UK licensed operators.
Disclaimer:
The above information is what we believe to be the the legal status of online gambling, however information on this topic is limited and hard to find. We accept no liability for any errors or ommissions. It is the reader’s responsibility to ensure that they know the legality of online gambling in their country before engaging with any online gambling service.