A project unites clubs against child gambling addiction
The Chamber of Deputies of the province of Buenos Aires has added a new tool for the prevention of child gambling addiction, this time focusing on clubs. Deputy Carlos Puglelli presented a bill that seeks to incorporate sports entities as specific spaces to address problematic gambling among children, through an amendment to the provincial law for the promotion and oversight of sports.
The proposal enables clubs to carry out prevention, early detection, guidance, and referral tasks in the face of possible situations related to gambling. To this end, the Buenos Aires Executive Branch must develop and provide materials and tools to train those who work with children and adolescents, with the aim of recognizing risk factors and warning signs and promoting gambling-free practices. Puglelli based the initiative on the change brought about by digital platforms, with permanent access from mobile phones, the use of virtual wallets, real-time betting, and an increasingly close association with sporting events—a combination that, in his opinion, demands new preventive responses.
The legislator clarified the limits of the project: he stated that it is not about turning coaches, teachers, or leaders into health professionals, nor about burdening sports institutions with a therapeutic responsibility that does not belong to them, but rather about giving them a strictly preventive function, which involves informing, raising awareness, recognizing signs, and facilitating appropriate referral to specialized state services when necessary. As he argued, the very law that is sought to be amended already recognizes sport as an educational and health-preserving factor and mandates special attention to child and youth sports, thus providing the framework for this incorporation.
The initiative is part of intense legislative activity on the issue in the province. In recent weeks, deputies from different blocs called for accelerating the processing of projects aimed at strengthening controls and limiting minors' access to online gambling, with demands for more political determination to regulate access, restrict payment methods, and limit advertising aimed at children. All these proposals are being analyzed in the Chamber's Committee on Gambling, Lottery, and Gambling Addiction Prevention in Buenos Aires, created this year, which has about twenty projects under study, fifteen of them bills and from different political spectrums.
This is a sensitive topic. If you are experiencing a problematic gambling situation or know someone who is, I can help you find appropriate support resources.
Tags: Carlos Puglelli, Problem Gambling Prevention in Minors, Buenos Aires Clubs, Gambling, Lottery, and Problem Gambling Prevention Commission