Liverpool FC Forum

[Reg]

Manchester City veteran Hamann chased over his gambling debt  02 Jun 2009

City veteran Dietmar Hamman vowed to tackle a £600,000 gambling debt on Monday and insisted he would escape the threat of being taken to court.

The former Newcastle and Liverpool midfielder, a free agent after his Manchester City contract ran out, is facing legal action after spread betting firm Sporting Index served papers to the High Court over arrears accumulated over the past three years.

Both parties are negotiating a compromise and the former Germany star said: 'We will find a solution. There won't be any court hearing.'

The 35-year-old is reported to have racked up debts of £706,000 by December, before repaying £100,000.

When he missed a January 3 deadline for clearing the debt, Sporting Index decided to take action.

There is no suggestion Hamann gambled on football matches he might have influenced.
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How can such a wonderful guy make these mistakes? he´s finished as a player and vastly in debt... whats it all been for then?

Really saddened by this news, I hold im in the highest respect.

[Sabre]

Gutted to read this Reg.

Compulsive gambling makes a lot of people wasting money, even wasting money they don't have.

Gutted to read Hamman fell in this trap.

[GYBS]

how can a player who earnt millions each year not afford to pay off that much ??

[tonyeh]

Very easy, if he's pissed it all away.

Jesus...I thought he was a smarter boy than that. 

[GYBS]

im sorry but i have no sympathy for him really .

[7_Kewell]

that's hard to believe, but not surprising. didn't owen have a problem with gambling too?  (and i'm not talking about joining Newcastle)

[tonyeh]

im sorry but i have no sympathy for him really .

Mmmm...I'd be inclined to agree, but gambling is a mental addiction that can grip some people very strongly. People can be absolutely ruined by it.

[Reg]

Putting the addiction to one side, as a lad I love the guy, he always gave 100% and never let us down. In Istanbul of course he was immense.

Dare I say... he's my favourite Girman (of one).

[Ciggy]

Him and Owen are terrible gamblers.

[GYBS]

They earn more in a couple of weeks than most earn in a lifetiime so shows lack of common sense and judgement if they throw it all away gambling . They should know the dangers before they start .

[Owzat]

Compulsive gambling makes a lot of people wasting money, even wasting money they don't have.

I think the government should take a lot of blame with their policies towards the three issues below

SMOKING/DRINKING - you see adverts about quitting, the health risks involved in smoking and drinking and so on. But the government won't ban it because of the tax on it, they are happy to compromise their ethics over ££££

GAMBLING - it is as adictive as smoking or drinking, but the government doesn't seem to worry people can rack up big debts - and it doesn't take long to rack them up. It's knowing when to stop, and when you've lost say £500 you want to win it back and then you want to win back your £2.5k and then your £50k and then finally you are £700k in debt.

PREMIUM PHONE LINES - these should be banned, they provide no worthwhile service and are just a rip off. You see the standard "texts cost £1m plus your standard provider tariff" on various adds, I caught a bit of "Wordplay" yesterday and the answer was so obviously "Fiddler on the roof", but they keep the lines open to get lots of people to ring in and be robbed of their money. There have been so many "scandals" with competitions recently, and they are not much better than gambling in all honesty, maybe more difficult to rack up big debts, but still a form of gambling, that I'm surprised they don't have a severe clampdown on it. And they must rake in millions when cr ap like "big bruvva" comes on, I seem to recall hearing or reading a few years ago, that they pull in something like £200k a week from voting.


All the above are a mug's game, you could say people are free to choose to do what they like, but the only winners in the above three are the people taking your money and most can affect your wellbeing/health. I don't advocate a clampdown on people's choices, as much choice as we have, but you have to question the motivation of the government in keeping some legal and not clamping down on all of them. Clearly people aren't bright enough to avoid most/all of the above, but the government isn't too bothered if people drink themselves or smoke themselves to death, or gamble themselves into poverty, as long as they get their taxes.

[Ace Ventura]

Sad if thats true, legend he is.

Funnily enough i seen him in the bookies on old hall street about 3 years back when he was injured, it was the middle of the afternoon and he was standing there (in plaster i think).


Footballers whether they earn sh!tloads of money or not are still prone to the same addictions as other people.

The fact that he has wasted even more money would be even harder to swallow probably.

[woof woof !]

that's hard to believe, but not surprising. didn't owen have a problem with gambling too?  (and i'm not talking about joining Newcastle)

   

(who said humour was dead on this forum ? )

[GYBS]

The only people can be blamed if they get ill through smoking or in debt through gambling or wasting money on phone lines is the person themselves .

[dawson99]

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