TRANMERE chairman Mark Palios believes continued gambling sponsorship in the EFL is now “incoherent” and that the time is right to reset the relationship between gambling and football.

Last week, after extensive consultation with the Premier League and Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the 20 top-flight clubs voluntarily agreed to ban such advertising from the front of shirts for the start of the 2026-27 season.

However, it understood gambling brands will be able to continue to feature in other areas, such as on shirt sleeves and on advertising hoardings.

Last year the EFL, whose competitions are sponsored by Sky Bet, said betting sponsorship was worth up to £40million a year to the league and its clubs.

Nevertheless, Palios wants to see change.

“The recent decision by the EPL (Premier League) to remove gambling as a front-of-shirt sponsor by 2026 is welcome, although allowing it to remain on shirt sleeves doesn’t add up. It’s either harmful or it isn’t,” said the former Football Association chief executive.

“Marketing of addictive gambling products has hijacked the game, targeting the ripe and vulnerable demographic that all so often suffer from addiction, which in turn causes irreparable damage to people; relationships and communities.

“It is incoherent for gambling sponsorship to continue in the lower leagues once current contractual arrangements expire.

“This is the moment to positively reset the relationship between gambling and football, across all levels.

“The argument that the removal of FoS (front of shirt) sponsorship would damage the game’s finances is partial, specious scaremongering that plays into the self-inflicted, parlous financial state of the football pyramid in this country.

“At Tranmere, our non-gambling front-of-shirt sponsor is the equivalent of just seven per cent of our wage bill.

“As a consequence, the removal of the opportunity for having a gambling FoS sponsor is insignificant.”

The EFL has not commented on the implications of last week’s Premier League decision.

However, the PA news agency understands the EFL believes gambling operators should make a financial contribution back to clubs given the significant profits they earn from their association with competition and that ‘socially responsible’ sponsorship deals help with the ongoing financial sustainability of professional football at all levels.

Additionally the EFL, which continues to have regular dialogue with all relevant stakeholders, also believes sports bodies and clubs should be able to identify their own commercial partners unless there are compelling and fully evidenced reasons why certain forms of sponsorship should not be permitted.