The English Football Association is moving to ban its members from betting on any match in the world.
The blanket prohibition was unanimously recommended by the FA Council and will take effect next season if approved at the association’s annual general meeting in May, according to a report by The Associated Press. It will “encompass all aspects of world football” and “provides a simple and straightforward message to all participants on where the line is drawn,” FA director of football governance and regulation Darren Bailey said.
Players, coaches and officials currently are only banned from betting on matches in competitions involving their teams. But under the new regulations anyone in the top eight divisions in England could be banned from “betting, either directly or indirectly, on any football match or competition anywhere in the world”.
The crackdown follows a string of scandals, the latest involving the firing of third-tier Tranmere’s manager Ronnie Moore, who admitted to breaching betting rules. Newcastle United’s Dan Gosling, who recently returned to the club after a loan spell, has admitted to an FA misconduct charge. Stoke striker Cameron Jerome, who is on loan at Crystal Palace, was fined last year for breaking the regulations, as was Tottenham winger Andros Townsend, who was forced to pull out of England’s team for the European Under-21 Championship for a violation.
The FA, though, has an official betting sponsor and coach Roy Hodgson named his most recent squad in front of a backdrop for William Hill. The new rules would prevent Hodgson using William Hill to bet on football.
