Footballers Banned For Gambling

Footballers banned for gambling – This is a topic that is hot in the press at the moment, with Joey Barton the most recent culprit to get caught placing bets on no fewer than 44 different games. Joey Barton currently plays his football in the Scottish Premiership with recently promoted Glasgow Rangers.

However, after recent claims that Joey has been involved in placing bets on football matches between the months of July – September 2016, it looks like he could be facing a hefty ban from playing the game he loves.

Footballers Banned For Betting

This news came out early on last month after it was said that Barton had placed a bet on Celtic to lose heavily in their Champions League clash against Barcelona FC.

The Scottish FA has given him until October 12th to respond to these allegations. What’s so frustrating is that it’s a well-known fact that the Scottish FA has a strict no-betting policy, so why Joey Barton thought it was ok to go against the rules we have no idea. Having said that, he’s always been someone who has a tendency to try his luck in certain situations, so why would this situation be any different.

World Wide Ban For Professional Footballers Caught Gambling

In light of recent allegations made about footballers gambling, the FA is changing the rules for players in the top 8 tiers of the footballing leagues. As of the beginning of next season (2017-18), no player in the top 8 tiers is allowed to place bets on any football match in the world. This new ruling replaces the current rule, which states that you cannot bet on any competition that your club is involved in, if you choose to ignore this rule, you run the risk of becoming one of the many footballers banned for gambling.

Footballers Banned For Gambling Allegations

Below we’re going to list some of the footballers that have either been investigated or banned for their involvement in allegations of gambling on football matches from around the world. Starting with the most recent allegations.

Joey Barton (Glasgow Rangers)

Allegation: Placing 44 bets on football matches in the Scottish Leagues and the Champions League. Which took place between the months of July – September 2016.

Banned/Fined: Outcome not yet known.

Kyle Lafferty (Norwich)

Allegations made: The allegations made against Lafferty were claims that he had placed a bet on a football match in late February 2016. Although he didn’t have any direct involvement in the game in question, it was still a breach of the FA rules.

Banned/Fined: Kyle Lafferty was found guilty of the FA misconduct charge, as a result, was fined £23,000, and was also issued a warning.

Martin Demichelis. (Manchester City)

Allegations made: Manchester City & Argentina International was being investigated for committing 12 breaches of an FA ruling, which took place in January 2016.

Banned/Fined: Martin Demichelis avoided a ban but was fined £22,000 and was issued a warning for his involvement in breaching the FA’s rules.

Lewis Smith (East Thurrock United)

Allegations made: Claims were made the Lewis Smith had been involved in placing more than 20 bets between the dates of 7th April 2012 – 23rd April 2013, whilst he was on the books AFC Hornchurch.

Banned/Fined: He was found guilty, fined £22,865 and as a consequence he received a ban in late 2015 which will last until August 2017.

Ronnie Moore (Former Tranmere Rovers Manager)

The allegation made: There was a claim made that Ronnie Moore had placed a bet on his own team (Tranmere Rovers), to win a League one clash in late 2013. It was a winning bet, which he won an astonishing £3.93 from. When asked about it, he said that he had placed the bet on behalf of his sister-in-law.

Banned/Fined: As a result, Ronnie Moore was banned from the game for one month and was fined £2,000 by the FA for a breach of their strict betting rules.

Andros Townsend (Tottenham)

Allegations made: When Andros Townsend was 21 (During his loan spells with Leeds & Birmingham), there was a report filed by a bookmaker claiming that he caught him placing bets on football.

Banned/Fined: Andros Townsend received a four month ban from football and avoided a fine.

Past High Profile Gambling Allegations

Gianluigi Buffon, (Juventus)

The Italian goalkeeper was also caught up in betting allegations that could have seen him miss the World Cup in Germany (2014). However, after an investigation into the allegations, he was cleared of the charges.

Bruce Grobbelaar, (Liverpool)

Bruce Grobbelaar was investigated over claims that he was heavily involved in match fixing. One game in particular, was the game against AS Roma in the European Cup final when the game finished 1-1 after the period of extra time, which then resulted in Liverpool winning the shootout 4-2.

He did eventually win his case and received £85,000 in compensation.

There have been so many cases where footballers are accused of abusing their celebrity status but up to yet there have not been many footballers banned for gambling.