Drink companies’ sport sponsorship ‘requires scrutiny’

THE culture of major sports events and summer festivals being heavily sponsored by drinks companies needs to be closely scrutinised if the problem of alcohol abuse if to be adequately tackled, a public health specialist has stressed.

Professor Joe Barry said that alcohol companies have targeted sporting events through sponsorship of GAA events, rugby and, to a lesser extent, soccer.

Pointing to the fact that children wear Celtic shirts emblazoned with the Carling logo and Liverpool strips promoting Carlsberg, Prof Barry said: “The companies do not put their names on these jerseys for fun. They can be associated with getting people to drink.”