The evidence submitted to the government by the English Football League should be ignored, according to an MP who chairs a parliamentary group for gambling reform.
Sky Bet sponsors the English Football League and its clubs receive 40 million pounds a year from gambling companies, but there is no evidence that sponsorship influences participation in betting.
The rate of problem gambling in sports has halved over the last five years, and gambling participation has remained flat at 9% of the population.
A critical assessment of those findings by a research company asked if the analysis was taken to draw a pre-determined conclusion.
Professor Ian McHale of the University ofLiverpool and the research author stood by their findings when the critique was presented to them.
Carolyn Harris, chair of the All Party Group for Gambling Related, said that Chris Philp should ignore the research in the gambling review, which is due to be published within weeks.
The research was commissioned by the campaign group Clean Up Gambling and was found to be flawed.
One of the surveys conducted by the National Health Service cautions against combining the results from a previous version of the survey because different methods were used to collect data.
There was no evidence that Skybet customers were influenced by sponsorship of clubs or leagues.
The influence to gamble or not was only based on fans with a gambling sponsor on their shirts and whether their team played in the Sky Bet-sponsored EFL.
Skybet concluded that not being a fan of football decreases the likelihood of being a Skybet customer.
The assumption that support for a team determines the extent of sponsorship exposure is flawed, given the evidence of how much gambling promotion is involved in football.
Philp said that any changes to the law will be based on the evidence submitted to the gambling act review.
Harris told The Sports Desk that they are not going to withdraw the evidence. You need to take it with a large pinch of salt.
The minister can either ignore it or discard it. I would like to think that he would, but we know that he is overwhelmed with evidence. The gambling minister is not completely hoodwinked. I believe he sees a lot of the white paper as flawed.
The minister has been looking at the background a lot. He has met with the trade body, but he has also met with families of people who have committed suicide.
He is capable of spreading truth from fiction. Hopefully the white paper will reflect that.
The relationship with gambling and betting sponsors has come under a lot of scrutiny.
Nine of the 20 top-flight teams have gambling firms as shirt sponsors. There are six teams with shirt sponsors in the Championship.
The English Football League says that a complete ban on betting advertising and sponsorship in football would leave it with a 40 million pound hole in its clubs finances each year and could force some to go under.
The EFL wants all of its gambling partner relationships to be socially responsible.
The gambling review has received evidence from the premier league that supports a self-regulatory approach to sponsorship.
The government has previously stated research did not establish a link between exposure to advertising and the development of problem gambling.
Gambling industry sources suggest that the purpose of sponsorship and advertising was to gain a bigger share of existing customers.
A recent research by the University of Glasgow showed that over 700 betting logos were visible in one match, while separate research by the Goldsmith's University showed that gambling logos were visible in between 70% and 89% of Match of the Day.
The betting advertising and sponsorship must comply with strict guidelines and be prominently displayed.
The gambling review is an opportunity to raise standards and promote safer gambling.
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