A football manager who gambled nearly £1million, including 28 bets on his own sport, has secretly been let off by the Football Association at the same time that Brentford striker Ivan Toney is serving an eight-month suspension.
Manager A — his real name cannot be used for legal reasons — had eight betting accounts and admitted being a gambling addict in evidence presented to a court case last year in which two former footballers were accused of blackmailing him.
Although the majority of those bets were placed on horse racing, the court was told he had also contravened FA rules by gambling on his own sport.
However, the FA has decided not to take any action, other than to issue a warning, in a judgment that the English game’s governing body has deliberately kept away from the media, almost certainly to avoid any challenging questions about its disciplinary processes.
The FA had declined to offer updates around its investigation to The Athletic, despite repeated requests to do so, but issued a statement four hours after this publication revealed that no charges were being brought against the manager.
In it, the FA confirmed he had placed 28 bets on football, the last of which came in 2017. None related to the club where he was employed at the time.
https://theathletic.com/4862351/2023/09/14/football-manager-betting-fa-punishment/
Manager A — his real name cannot be used for legal reasons — had eight betting accounts and admitted being a gambling addict in evidence presented to a court case last year in which two former footballers were accused of blackmailing him.
Although the majority of those bets were placed on horse racing, the court was told he had also contravened FA rules by gambling on his own sport.
However, the FA has decided not to take any action, other than to issue a warning, in a judgment that the English game’s governing body has deliberately kept away from the media, almost certainly to avoid any challenging questions about its disciplinary processes.
The FA had declined to offer updates around its investigation to The Athletic, despite repeated requests to do so, but issued a statement four hours after this publication revealed that no charges were being brought against the manager.
In it, the FA confirmed he had placed 28 bets on football, the last of which came in 2017. None related to the club where he was employed at the time.
https://theathletic.com/4862351/2023/09/14/football-manager-betting-fa-punishment/