The War on the Pools The war on the Football
Pools continues, and indeed on a wider- front. On Saturday the Pools escaped with some success from the first attack of the League Management Committee. A campaign on their behalf is being carried on by the National Registry, formed to combat such enemies of the Pools as " anti-gambling associations, misinformed religious bodies and bogus pool promoters "—a formidable opposition. Now the Football Association also has entered the war by appealing to the Home Secretary to support Mr. R. J. Russell's Bill to prohibit pool betting when it comes before Parliament on April 3rd. The Bill will thus have behind it the authority of the Royal Commission on Betting and Lotteries, and the support of the Association which represents both amateur and professional football. Parliament must decide between the opponents of pool betting and a vested interest, supported by its fanatical adherents, " the pool investors." Lord Londonderry, defending the re-drafting of the Betting and Lotteries Act of 1984, in .a form which permitted the growth of pool betting, promised that if any mistake had been made it would be rectified. That pledge should be honoured now,
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