CHOPRA CHECKS INTO GAMBLING CLINIC

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/15475879.stm

Ipswich Town striker Michael Chopra has checked into the Sporting Chance rehabilitation clinic to receive treatment for a gambling addiction.

The 27-year-old former Cardiff frontman has spent the last four weeks based at the Hampshire clinic.

He has suffered problems with gambling in the past, most notably while at Sunderland in 2008.

Ipswich boss Paul Jewell told BBC Radio Suffolk the forward would start against Millwall on Saturday.

"Michael has had an addiction to gambling for some considerable time," said Jewell.

"We thought he was getting better, but he wasn't, so off his own back he checked into the Sporting Chance Clinic after the Brighton game [1 October]."

The Sporting Chance Clinic is a facility set up by former England and Arsenal defender Tony Adams to treat behavioural problems, such as alcohol, drugs and gambling addictions in professional and amateur sports people.

"It's been difficult for us to talk about it," added Jewell. "He hasn't trained. He was turning up for matches and going straight back to the clinic afterwards.

SPORTING CHANCE CLINIC

Set up in 2000 by Tony Adams, the former England defender who suffered from alcoholism

Based at a country club in Liphook, Hampshire

Helps sports people recover from addictive illnesses, including alcoholism, drug and gambling addiction and eating disorders
Former patients include ex-England and Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson and QPR midfielder Joey Barton

"He's in a better place, in his head, than he's been for a long time. The transformation in his personality is quite clear to see, we all desperately want to help him.

"We would like to have kept it private, and when it's splashed all over the newspapers it can make it worse, but he wanted to face up to his addiction.

"He's trying to turn his life around. I'm sure with the support of the team, the experts and, really importantly, the supporters, we can have an even better player.

"You will definitely see Michael Chopra on Saturday, you'll definitely see him starting."

The former England Under-21 international, a £1.5m signing from Cardiff in the summer, has started 12 of his side's 13 league games this season, scoring five goals along the way.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/15475879.stm

Ipswich Town striker Michael Chopra has checked into the Sporting Chance rehabilitation clinic to receive treatment for a gambling addiction.

The 27-year-old former Cardiff frontman has spent the last four weeks based at the Hampshire clinic.

He has suffered problems with gambling in the past, most notably while at Sunderland in 2008.

Ipswich boss Paul Jewell told BBC Radio Suffolk the forward would start against Millwall on Saturday.

"Michael has had an addiction to gambling for some considerable time," said Jewell.

"We thought he was getting better, but he wasn't, so off his own back he checked into the Sporting Chance Clinic after the Brighton game [1 October]."

The Sporting Chance Clinic is a facility set up by former England and Arsenal defender Tony Adams to treat behavioural problems, such as alcohol, drugs and gambling addictions in professional and amateur sports people.

"It's been difficult for us to talk about it," added Jewell. "He hasn't trained. He was turning up for matches and going straight back to the clinic afterwards.

SPORTING CHANCE CLINIC

Continue reading the main story

Set up in 2000 by Tony Adams, the former England defender who suffered from alcoholism

Based at a country club in Liphook, Hampshire
Helps sports people recover from addictive illnesses, including alcoholism, drug and gambling addiction and eating disorders
Former patients include ex-England and Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson and QPR midfielder Joey Barton

"He's in a better place, in his head, than he's been for a long time. The transformation in his personality is quite clear to see, we all desperately want to help him.

"We would like to have kept it private, and when it's splashed all over the newspapers it can make it worse, but he wanted to face up to his addiction.

"He's trying to turn his life around. I'm sure with the support of the team, the experts and, really importantly, the supporters, we can have an even better player.

"You will definitely see Michael Chopra on Saturday, you'll definitely see him starting."

The former England Under-21 international, a £1.5m signing from Cardiff in the summer, has started 12 of his side's 13 league games this season, scoring five goals along the way.

cant see any way anyone could think its funny amazes me

cant see any way anyone could think its funny amazes me

i was thinking the same

cant see any way anyone could think its funny amazes me

The next Amy Winehouse

cant see any way anyone could think its funny amazes me

The next Amy Winehouse

two poor distasteful jokes in 5 minutes...

i know your young kid but have some respect

cant see any way anyone could think its funny amazes me

The next Amy Winehouse

two poor distasteful jokes in 5 minutes...

i know your young kid but have some respect

Sorry mate :\ it was there to be done !

Lets not get into the whole "he's got an illness" bullshit, if he wants to stop he can, its his own fault, how many more chances does he want....complete waste of talent!

cant see any way anyone could think its funny amazes me

The next Amy Winehouse

two poor distasteful jokes in 5 minutes...

i know your young kid but have some respect

he can dish it out, but cant take it it seems. on another thread he's upset because someone mocked him.

cant see any way anyone could think its funny amazes me

The next Amy Winehouse

two poor distasteful jokes in 5 minutes...

i know your young kid but have some respect

he can dish it out, but cant take it it seems. on another thread he's upset because someone mocked him.

Mabye because it was upsetting its not like chopra is gunna see this is he ?

Lets not get into the whole "he's got an illness" bullshit, if he wants to stop he can, its his own fault, how many more chances does he want....complete waste of talent!

Thats where you are wrong Craig. Its not as simple to just say "im stopping". I can only assume you have never suffered from an addiction.

Best of luck Chops. Hope you get through it.

Simmer down

Lets not get into the whole "he's got an illness" bullshit, if he wants to stop he can, its his own fault, how many more chances does he want....complete waste of talent!

Thats where you are wrong Craig. Its not as simple to just say "im stopping". I can only assume you have never suffered from an addiction.

Best of luck Chops. Hope you get through it.

quite the opposite, infact, i'm probably in more of a position to comment than anybody else

Lets not get into the whole "he's got an illness" bullshit, if he wants to stop he can, its his own fault, how many more chances does he want....complete waste of talent!

Thats where you are wrong Craig. Its not as simple to just say "im stopping". I can only assume you have never suffered from an addiction.

Best of luck Chops. Hope you get through it.

quite the opposite, infact, i'm probably in more of a position to comment than anybody else

If you had ever suffered from a gambling addiction then you will know its not simple to just stop.

I agree its his own fault, and no-one else to blame, but its naive to think you can just wake up one day, jump on the anti-gambling bandwagon, and not expect some bumps and bruises along the way.

Ive been trying to kick it for 6 years with no joy.

surely addictions are all about willpower to stop or carry on obviously after all this time he hasnt got any willpower

Gambling wasn't my issue, at one stage in my life i housed more pills than a pharmacy and shovelled more shit up my nose than i can remember, so much so that my septum is pickled..........i stopped, on my own, because i woke up, stopped being a selfish tw*t and realised what it was doing to people who cared about me. Also smoked 40 fags a day and quit one morning, i crave a fag almost hourly, but havent touched one in 5 years, nor shall i

surely addictions are all about willpower to stop or carry on obviously after all this time he hasnt got any willpower

Hence hes gone into rehab to try and get proffesional help.

Gambling wasn't my issue, at one stage in my life i housed more pills than a pharmacy and shovelled more shit up my nose than i can remember, so much so that my septum is pickled..........i stopped, on my own, because i woke up, stopped being a selfish tw*t and realised what it was doing to people who cared about me. Also smoked 40 fags a day and quit one morning, i crave a fag almost hourly, but havent touched one in 5 years, nor shall i

I have done all that (and still do) except the smoking (Never have) and can go weeks without a sniff, but cant go one day without a bet.

Difference with gambling is you can hide it from people by being a good liar, when you are wired or pissed then you cannot hide that from your loved ones.

surely addictions are all about willpower to stop or carry on obviously after all this time he hasnt got any willpower

I bet he has

I think its very sad, when his head is right he is awesome. When he loses a wad he feels no different than anyone would. If he worried about "Who is knocking the door" he is gonna get screwed up quickly.
Chops was one of my favorite players . I couldn't believe what I saw some matches as he came out of the tunnel you just knew he was troubled.
When he left us I think most of us knew it was just a matter of time.

I hope he get cured and gets his peace.
Overall he was a good servant to the bluebirds.
Made the mistake of not turning up on the most important game of the year. That still hurts.

Get well soon Chops.

Last edited by Grumpyguts on Thu Oct 27, 2011 12:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Good luck Chops in your fight against your demons, I feel lucky that I can just have a little flutter and be able to walk away afterwards win or lose.

Good luck chops. i BET youll be ok.

he's getting the right help now, so the odds are in his favour

The odds are stacked against him lets be fair most of us live week to week wondering when the next bill is comming from and wishing they could do what he does on his money and hes blowing thousands of pounds per week on crap well i say he deserves everything he gets i would love for him to live in the real word living on a weekly basis so i got no nice point to say about it or him and any mug sticking up for him is a fool hes no better than a smack head with an additction they got there them selfs no one elses fault bar chops so f**k him

No Will Power just William Hill and Paddy Power come on boys give the Lad a broke , i mean break

Feel sorry for him. He could end up being one of these footballers who earns millions and ends up with nothing. History is littered with skint ex football players. Here's an interesting article from quite a few years ago giving just a few examples of players with gambling issues and there are many many more which we don't hear about -
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/foot ... 02195.html. Sadly for Ipswich they have currently bought themselves a bit of a dud in his present state of mind but if he can conquer his demons then they have themselves a gem, time will tell, its all down to Michael Chopra himself but good on him for trying to solve his problem. Good luck Michael

Surely the point in gambling is to become rich/wealthy in a very rapid timescale?

Something he already is!!!! Maybe he should just take up fishing or Something and relax???

Surely the point in gambling is to become rich/wealthy in a very rapid timescale?

Something he already is!!!! Maybe he should just take up fishing or Something and relax???

To the normal bloke maybe but people where money is no object they are chasing a buzz.

thats what money does to you.sorry. im happy getting my few quid a week

cant see any way anyone could think its funny amazes me

agreed,very sad that it has come to this,i lost my respect when he went on the piss,but i wish him well,and hope he beats this addiction