League of Ireland completes EPIC gambling awareness rollout to all 32 senior teams

First phase reached more than 1,000 players in three months, with Flutter funding 70 workshops a year under a three-year deal.

The League of Ireland has completed delivery of a gambling awareness course to all 32 senior men’s and women’s teams in three months, according to details released on 22 April 2026.

The programme is delivered by EPIC Global Solutions under a three-year partnership announced in January and funded by Flutter, the League of Ireland said. The league added that more than 1,000 League of Ireland players have attended sessions so far, with the initiative reaching 1,250 players, FAI staff and club and match officials since January.

Under the programme, 70 workshops are scheduled annually to reach more than 2,000 participants each year. Planned delivery includes 32 sessions to senior League of Ireland teams (20 men’s and 12 women’s), 26 sessions to League of Ireland Academy clubs (U17s men’s and women’s), 10 sessions to Women’s Development League senior teams, and sessions for League of Ireland Match Officials and FAI staff. The update followed a workshop attended by almost 100 FAI staff at FAI Headquarters.

EPIC said the first phase showed 89% of male and female participants are confident they can recognise signs of harmful gambling behaviour and know how to approach these conversations. The programme also reported a rise in integrity awareness: 94% of players reported excellent awareness of FAI and UEFA integrity regulations post-session, compared with 71% (men) and 53% (women) before attending. EPIC also reported that 98% of female participants rated the overall quality of its sessions 8-10 out of 10.

League of Ireland Director Mark Scanlon said: “We were delighted to see the initial impact of our partnership with EPIC and the early results validate our commitment to proactive education.

“The jump in integrity awareness – particularly among our women’s teams, from 53% to 94% – shows this education is genuinely landing with players and making a real difference.

“We look forward to rolling out the education programme across our clubs academy teams over the next few months and we’re confident this prevention-based approach will have a significant impact over the three years of this partnership.”

Stephen McGuiness, General Secretary of the Professional Footballers Association of Ireland, added: “It is great to see the significant impact this programme is having in supporting and guiding players. Feedback from our members has been extremely positive, particularly to the reallife experience EPIC bring as an independent third party.

“This type of education is vital in helping players identify problem gambling behaviours and avoid the pitfalls that can arise. We’re also looking forward to the impact the programme will have on academy players and to former PFA Ireland members sharing their personal stories as part of the training going forward.”