The English Football League (EFL) is defending its gambling sponsorship ties as the UK government mulls a potential ban on betting operators promoting their products via major sports.

On Sunday, the EFL issued a statement saying the ties binding football and gambling were “long-standing, with a collaborative, evidence-based approach to preventing gambling harms of much greater benefit than that of a blanket ban of any kind.”

The UK government’s Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is preparing to review the Gambling Act 2005, with the results of this review expected sometime next year. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has reportedly taken a personal interest in shaping the results of this long-awaited review.

Gambling marketing is expected to be a key focus of the review, with a House of Lords committee recently singling out sports sponsorships as a particular area of interest. The committee proposed delaying any sponsorship ban to 2023 for “clubs below the Premier League” to find time to adjust to the new fiscal reality but otherwise wants gambling to vanish from sport.