A football manager has reportedly escaped consequences after gambling nearly £1million which included bets in his own sport as well. The person, whose name can not be disclosed due to legal issues, was addicted to gambling and owns three betting accounts, The Athletic reported. However, he was only issued a formal warning by the Football Association (FA) since most of his bets were placed on horse racing, while 28 bets were on sports.
The anonymous manager’s involvement in betting first came to light last year when he accused former English footballers Alan Rogers and Steven Jennings of blackmailing him. Back then, the issue reached the court where the manager was granted anonymity. According to evidence submitted during the court hearing, he had gambled a total of £879,000 over a period of two years and recorded losses of £270,000. Among those bets, as many as 28 were associated with football.
As a result of the court case, Rogers, who represented several top clubs like Nottingham Forest during his playing days, was accused of one count of blackmail and one count of tampering with evidence. Jennings, on the other hand, faced charges of perverting justice and two counts of blackmail. Although, both of the ex-footballers later denied those allegations. They were relieved of the charges after the manager decided not to give evidence to counter the court’s decision.
After the court case was wrapped up, the FA took all the police evidence and analysed it to adjudge the manager’s punishment. But it came out that only three of those football-related bets were placed after the FA imposed a “total ban” on the matter. Since the numbers were “of a low value.” the governing body decided not to take any strict actions against the manager.
“We take all allegations of potential betting breaches very seriously, and we conducted a full and thorough investigation into this matter. The last of these bets were placed in 2017, and none of them were in relation to clubs that the individual was involved with at the time. With all aspects fully considered, the case was closed, and the individual was issued with a formal warning,” an FA spokesperson told the Mirror.
Earlier, the FA awarded a five-month ban to Nottingham Forest defender Harry Toffolo including a fine of £20,000 after the footballer was accused of 375 breaches of the betting rules. His offences were recorded between 2014 and 2017 when Toffolo was signed with Norwich City. Owing to a similar charge, Brentford striker Ivan Toney is currently serving an eight-month suspension from English football.