Betting Away A Career?

The Last Word by Brendan White

(first published in the May 2010 Athlone Town programme)

Betting. A lot of people interested in sport love a bet every now and again. A bet on the horses or on your Premier League team, or even an accumulator to see how many winners you can get to win big bucks.

Sometimes Irish people even bet on Airtricity League football. The odd time we may see an interesting price and put a few euro down, hoping for the best, but with no serious expectation of it coming in.

But when players begin to place bets, then the problems begin. With suspensions handed out to ex-St Patrick’s Athletic midfielder Gary Dempsey and Bohemians winger Gareth McGlynn, the players clearly aren’t heeding the league’s warning about betting on games.

Dempsey admitted to placing a €20 bet on Galway United to beat his own side, St Pat’s, doubled with Manchester City also to win an English Premier League match. Galway came through, but City slipped up, so the bet didn’t come off. The former Aberdeen player didn’t feature in the match against Galway and claimed at the time that he was “not aware and have never been made aware of any regulations that prohibit me from placing a bet on a match that I was not involved in”.

Rule 100 of the FAI Code of Conduct states: “Anyone who directly or indirectly bets, instructs someone to be on their behalf, or provides others with information for the purpose of betting or gambling on a result, conduct or progress of a match or competition in which that person or his club is participating or has control over, shall be subject to disciplinary sanctions.“

Despite not being involved in the game that he bet on, Dempsey was found guilty of breaking the rule and was handed a five-match ban, which was reduced to two games on appeal.

This was the first case of betting in the domestic game in recent years and the player’s punishment coupled with a stern warning from the FAI should have been enough to ensure it would be the last such incident. However, almost two weeks ago, McGlynn was given a two-month ban for breaching the same rule after he admitted to betting on games when he was playing for Derry City. The Independent Disciplinary Committee did not take his actions lightly, hence his lengthy suspension.

A statement from the Committee said: “Mr Gareth McGlynn, while a player at Derry City FC, had placed bets on matches in the league in which his club at the time was a participant. None of these bets involved his own club. There were five such bets ranging from £20 sterling to £100. The player did not win any of these bets.” McGlynn has since appealed the severity of the punishment. Both Dempsey and McGlynn have made it clear that neither had won any money on their respective bets, but this holds little relevance. Once the bets were placed, the rule was broken.

There is no doubt that there are players, and always will be, who will bet on games. The sooner these players realise that it is their careers they are gambling with, the better. One little bet can cause more damage than its worth. One winning bet or one losing bet – the only sure thing is a hefty suspension. And where does that leave a player then? What club would take a risk on a player with a tarnished reputation?

The players simply need to realise that it isn’t a few euro that they might lose, it’s their careers.