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Football

14th Sep 2023

Manager who gambled on football is secretly spared punishment by FA

Callum Boyle

FA

It’s happened at the same time Ivan Toney is serving an eight-month suspension

A football manager who gambled close to £1m has been secretly let off by the Football Association at the same time Ivan Toney is serving an eight-month suspension for breaching betting rules.

As revealed by The Athletic the manager – who cannot be named for legal reasons – had eight betting accounts and admitted to being a gambling addict in evidence presented to a court case last year in which two former footballers were accused of blackmailing him.

The majority of those bets had been placed on horse racing but some had been placed on his own sport – thus breaking the FA’s rules on gambling on the same sport.

In response, the FA decided not to take any more action and issued a written warning that the FA has tried to keep away from the media to avoid any challenging questions.

The manager’s identity cannot be revealed because of a court order that was made when the two ex-players, Alan Rogers and Steven Jennings, were due to go on trial last year.

Rogers was charged with one count of blackmail and another of perverting the course of justice while Jennings faced the same charges as well as another alleged offence of blackmail.

Both had pleaded not guilty to the charges and the case was dropped after the unnamed manager decided that he no longer wanted to go through with the trial.

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