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AFS responds to announcement of SPFL official beer partnership with Carling

The Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) has today announced Carling as the league’s official beer. 

Commenting on the announcement, Alison Douglas, CEO of Alcohol Focus Scotland said:

“This decision by the Scottish Professional Football League is particularly disappointing at a time when Scotland is in the grip of an alcohol emergency and has just seen alcohol deaths reach a fifteen-year high.

“Like all sports, football is a sport that can improve health and wellbeing and can break down barriers and help bring people together. In order to reach and stay at the highest levels of the game, alcohol consumption would be actively discouraged if not forbidden by clubs, managers, coaches or club dieticians due to its health and performance damaging effects. So, it is utterly counter intuitive to see the SPFL choose to market a product so at odds with their sport.

“This marketing will be on full display to children across Scotland who idolise their teams and their favourite players. Big alcohol brands capitalise on this, signing deals with sports teams and leagues as a means to ‘recruit the heavy using loyalists of tomorrow’. The evidence is overwhelming, alcohol marketing increases alcohol consumption and early onset alcohol use by children and young people.

“Children and young people have told us that they don’t want to be regularly exposed to alcohol marketing. People in recovery have told us they find alcohol marketing triggering and that it endangers their recovery. Football fans have said they think it’s time to end alcohol marketing within Scottish football.

“The Scottish Professional Football League should follow the lead of the Scottish Women’s Football League and recognise that alcohol is detrimental to the health and performance of anyone wishing to participate in football – and to the health and wellbeing of fans – and reject sponsorship deals with alcohol brands.”