Fantasy leagues 'getting children ready for gambling in later life', warns expert

Statistics published last year by the Health Research Board suggested there were 12,000 problem gamblers in Ireland and a further 125,000 deemed “at risk”. File picture: iStock

Parents have been warned that fantasy sports leagues played by their children could be “getting them ready for gambling in later life”, as a top expert said that hundreds of thousands of people in Ireland are affected by gambling.

Consultant psychiatrist and head of addiction services at St John of God’s Hospital, Professor Colin O’Gara, said there was a link between fantasy sports and sports betting in young men and such fantasy leagues for the Premier League and Six Nations could be being run for children “without any knowledge of the potential damage”.