Famous players who had gambling problems
Football is a sport that brings together millions of people. Some of them like to visit the big stadiums and watch different football events live, whereas others prefer to stay home and follow everything on the big screen. Although both of those things have advantages and disadvantages, what brings them together is the fact that they allow the fan to enjoy his or her favorite sport.
Needless to say, every football fan also has a favorite player. That said, today, we will take a look at some of the most famous football players that had some sort of gambling problem. Believe it or not, even the biggest stars in the world tend to have those kinds of problems.
Eidur Gudjohnen
The first player on our list is probably a name that many of you will instantly recognize. For those of you who don’t know, Eidur Gudhosen is an iconic striker that played many years for Chelsea, one of England’s biggest football teams.
Although he was really good at the pitch and played a vital part in Chelsea’s success, Eidur also liked to gamble a lot. He first started doing it while he had an injury and even though it was fun in the beginning, according to the player, he lost a lot of money.
Even after he was transferred to Barcelona, he continued to gamble there. Finally, he decided to confess that he had a problem, which was the right thing to do.
Wayne Rooney
The second football player on our list is none other than Wayne Rooney, one of the strongest strikes to ever set foot in the English Premier League. Even though every Manchester United fan will remember Rooney for his trophy-winning goals, it seems the player had an issue that persisted for a long time, despite the fame and glory.
According to a few stories, Wayne Rooney had a gambling addiction problem when he was young. Back then, the online gambling websites weren’t so advanced, so he probably spent most of his money on land-based operators. If it was today, he could find a lot more information online, but for better or worse, this wasn’t the case.
Fortunately, those days are long gone, and Ronney now enjoys the company of his family and loved ones. However, this just has to show that being really young and having a lot of money is something that not everyone can deal with.
Gianluigi Buffon
The last name on this list happens to be one of the most legendary goalkeepers of all time, and perhaps the most popular Italian player – Gianluigi Buffon. Despite being one of the biggest names in this sport, he was also involved in a few gambling problems over the years.
Whether he read Betenemy or not is still up in the air, but many people thought he made illegal bets at least a few times in his career. Even though the investigation showed that he was innocent, Buffon always showed his passion for gambling, so we might never know the whole truth.