Alliance for Gambling Reform representative Tim Costello said the claims, if true, were labelled the alleged promotions \u201coutrageous\u201d and added: \u201cIt\u2019s utterly irresponsible. Footy players have a duty to young people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Robinson and Mathieson co-host the AFL podcast \u201cRip Through It\u201d \u2014 which has 5,000 subscribers on YouTube.<\/p>\n
Professional esports player and Twich streamer Robinson also has 58,000 subscribers on his own personal YouTube channel.<\/p>\n
The Australian Communications and Media Authority states a penalty of up to $2.5 million can be enforced for those found in breach of the law.<\/p>\n
News.com.au has contacted Mathieson and Robinson for comment.<\/p>\n
A statement from the ACMA, who regulate the advertising of gambling websites, said: \u201cWebsite blocking is one of the primary ways the ACMA disrupts illegal online gambling services.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince the ACMA made its first blocking request in November 2019, 1564 illegal gambling and affiliate websites have been blocked.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile the Vegastars website has been blocked, we are aware illegal gambling services set up \u2018mirror\u2019 sites to circumvent the blocks.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe monitor this activity and have re-blocked a number of Vegastars mirror sites.\u201d<\/p>\n
Australians are understood to be losing nearly $4 billion annually to illegal offshore gambling websites, according to Responsible Wagering Australia.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
And with the unregulated market growing at a rapid rate \u2014 far faster than the legal market \u2014 Costello lamented the lack of policing in place to prevent it.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cThe whole problem is we don\u2019t have a regulator in Australia.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow\u2019s it possible that in a country with the greatest gambling losses per head, the greatest gambling harm per head, that we don\u2019t have a regulator?\u201d<\/p>\n
Midfielder Robinson retired in 2022 after 100 games for Carlton and 147 for the Lions.<\/p>\n
He also represented Australia on two occasions back in 2011.<\/p>\n
Fellow midfielder Mathieson played 72 games for the Lions across a seven-year spell. He last featured in 2023 \u2014 after which he tested positive for Oxymetholone and was handed a three-year ban. <\/p>\n