Footballers aren’t always the brightest bunch, and a few in recent times have landed themselves in trouble for gambling when they’re not supposed to.
We can imagine it’s tempting to get involved when you make as much money as footballers do, as there’d surely be plenty to be made, but best stick to checking out the best NetEnt casino reviews instead of betting on the outcome of games in the very industry you’re involved in!
Here’s our list of five footballers who were punished for breaching those rules…
Martin Demichelis
In March 2016, former Manchester City defender Martin Demichelis was found to have placed a total of 29 bets on football games. In the end, the £22,058 fine and warning he received was not too big a punishment as he was not betting on any games he’d been involved in himself. Still, a pretty silly thing to do and it’s little surprise he left the Etihad Stadium shortly afterwards.
Cameron Jerome
Cameron Jerome is not exactly the biggest name of the Premier League era, but he had a decent career going for himself in the top flight, as well as plenty of fine performances in the Championship down the years. Still, he risked that all with a £50,000 fine for placing several bets on games, though he, like Demichelis, avoided a ban as they weren’t games he was involved in.
Andros Townsend
Andros Townsend actually became the first player to breach the FA’s new betting rules before he even burst onto the scene as a big name in the Premier League. His gambling antics saw him fined £18,000 in 2013 and even saw him forced to withdraw from playing with England at the European Under-21 Championships that year.
Wayne Shaw
One of the most memorable and funniest football betting controversies of recent times involved former Sutton United goalkeeper Wayne Shaw. In an FA Cup clash with Arsenal, Shaw landed himself in trouble for eating a pasty on the bench, when it had been speculated he could do so, with several people the player knew thought to have made money out of his stunt. Unsurprisingly, this quickly led to him leaving the club and his career going downhill from there, though the enormous publicity he received must have at least partly made up for it!
Dan Gosling
Dan Gosling is another to have breached gambling laws within the game during a spell out injured while he was at Newcastle United. The midfielder again escaped a particularly huge punishment, getting fined £30,000 due to not being involved in any of the games he placed bets on.