Football codes join battle against pokies reforms

The registered clubs movement has received backing in its campaign against the Federal Government's mandatory pre-commitment technology on poker machines, with the NRL joining the fight against the plan.
AFL club presidents will meet today (26th September) to discuss the Government's move, which some prominent AFL figures have already spoken out against publicly. However, while high profile Collingwood President Eddie McGuire yesterday called the move a "footy tax" which would "hit football clubs right between the eyes", AFL Chief Executive Andrew Demertiou denied claims made over the weekend that the AFL is part of any campaign.
Demetriou says the AFL has told the Federal Government the reforms will do nothing to stop problem gambling and will only hurt clubs already struggling to make ends meet, but went onto state "I've never spoken to anybody from Clubs Australia. I've never spoken to the NRL about this issue"The AFL is not involved in any campaign. We haven't got the ads ready to go."
Demetriou says the AFL "abhors" problem gambling and would support measures that effectively address the issue.
Federal Community Services Minister Jenny Macklin has defended the reforms, saying problem gamblers spend an average $20,000 a year and clubs have a duty of care to those families whose lives are ruined as a result.
Clubs Australia Executive Director Anthony Ball, says the new technology will cripple football clubs financially, stating "AFL clubs receive over $60 million a year from clubs and hotels and that is really important to them running their teams.
"That's at the elite level but it will also hurt at the junior and amateur level, teams that really rely on their pub or club to get jumpers on the backs of the kids.
"So look this is going to hurt from top to bottom and I think the AFL realise that."
Reports over the weekend suggested that the NRL and the AFL were planning to run television advertisements against mandatory pre-commitment in the run up to their respective grand finals this week.
Ball says it is important the codes speak out against the technology being being pushed for by independent MP Andrew Wilkie, adding "millions of Australians are AFL and rugby league fans.
"By backing Andrew Wilkie's demand for mandatory pre-commitment, the Federal Government is directly attacking the ability of clubs across the country to support AFL and rugby league teams."
Ball says no sporting club would escape the "massive financial hit" of the mandatory pre-commitment changes, which Wilkie wants implemented by 2014.
Wilkie is giving his support to the minority Federal Labor Government on the basis that pre-commitment technology will be introduced.