The FA has denied covering up an investigation into an unnamed football manager’s gambling after he breached betting rules. [Image: Shutterstock.com]
Played almost £1 million
The English Football Association (FA) has denied covering up an investigation into an unnamed manager who breached its betting rules.
The person known as Manager A – who cannot be named for legal reasons unrelated to the gambling issue – gambled nearly 1 million pounds ($1.2 million), mostly on horse racing. However, 28 bets were placed on his own sport, in breach of FA rules. Instead of taking action against Manager A, the FA decided to take no further action other than issuing a warning.
There are legal restrictions that allow us to reveal a person’s name.”
The 28 football bets were small bets, three of which were placed after the governing body issued a general ban on betting in 2014. The FA said: “The reports suggesting that this was a secret trial are absolutely false. “There are legal restrictions on naming a person which have nothing to do with the betting matter.”
Phrases for other players
The news that Manager A will only receive a warning comes at a time when others have received fines and bans from the FA for betting breaches.
It was reported on Wednesday that Nottingham Forest’s Harry Toffolo had received a five-month suspended ban for betting offenses after admitting 375 breaches of the FA’s betting rules between January 2014 and March 2017. The defense attorney must also pay a fine of £20,956 ($26,188).
It is not known why Toffolo received a suspended sentence, but he got off more lightly than Brentford striker Ivan Toney, who is currently serving an eight-month ban for 232 betting offences. It is believed that Toney received a harsher punishment because he had bet that his own team would lose games.
process
During a court case last year, former footballers Alan Rogers and Steven Jennings were accused of trying to blackmail Manager A. During his testimony, he admitted to being addicted to gambling. As a result of the legal proceedings, Manager A has been anonymised and is expected to continue to operate in the top four divisions of English football.
According to evidence heard in court, the manager had wagered £879,000 ($1.09 million) over a two-year period and suffered a loss of £270,000 ($335,000).
Rogers was charged with one count of racketeering and perverting the course of justice. Jennings was charged with two counts of extortion and one count of perverting the course of justice. Both denied the allegations and the charges were dropped after the manager decided he no longer wanted to testify.
