Martin Lycka will be playing host to the live edition of The Safe Bet Show in collaboration with EPIC Global Solutions at the upcoming SBC Summit 2025, due in a month from today. To celebrate this, Lycka will also be welcoming former Liverpool and Leeds defender Dominic Matteo, who will be joining him to talk about safer gambling.
Matteo is himself a decorated soccer veteran, having participated in 155 games for Liverpool between 1992 and 2000, when he moved to Leeds United. Since he stepped down from soccer at the 2008/2009 season, Matteo has found a new and meaningful initiative to pursue – championing safer and responsible gambling.
Lycka welcomed the soccer star and expressed his happiness about seeing him join The Safe Bet Show:
"Dominic’s journey is one of incredible resilience. His willingness to speak openly about his struggles and his fantastic educational work with athletes is deeply impactful.
Having him and Jess join me for this live edition of The Safe Bet Show brings an essential human perspective to the wider conversation on player protection. I’m honoured that I’ll be able to share the stage with them both in Lisbon."
He is also uniquely positioned to talk about the issues, having suffered from gambling-related problems and found the strength to overcome them. Now, he wishes to continue helping others in finding the same strength. Matteo understands the struggles gambling addicts go through, and so do Lycka, EPIC Solutions, and SBC Summit.
Matteo works with EPIC Solutions, where his wife and Jess serve as Lived Experience Facilitators, people who have gone through gambling addiction first-hand and can help raise awareness for the issue, as well as how it could impact professional athletes who are not insulated from gambling addiction.
Matteo’s story could have been gut-wrenching, but he has managed to overcome adversity and channeled his impulses into helping others. At the nadir of his addiction, Matteo recalls placing a £500,000 bet on a single horse race and running a £1m debt at one point. His wife would be an important factor in his recovery, and she, too, has become an advocate for the issues that problem gamblers face.
His life then took another unexpected turn – in 2019, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor that had been dormant since childhood.
Matteo’s life story is a powerful account of the adversities anyone could face when dealing with gambling addiction, and his appearance at SBC Summit adds to the Player Protection Stage, a dedicated space that the hosts have organized to ensure that they continue, just like Jess and Matteo, to give voices to those who need it the most.
