Manchester City Player Demichelis Fined £22,058 for Match Betting

Manchester City’s defender Martin Demichelis has avoided a ban and instead chose to accept a betting related charge. The Argentinian player has been fined £22,058 and warned about his future conduct by the Football Association.

The FA released a statement saying that Demichelis broke Rule E8 when he placed 29 bets on football matches between 22 January and 15 February this year. Demichelis was charged by the FA on March 30 and decided not to contest the charge.

He is not the first player in the Premier League to be charged with breaking the betting rules. However, it is understood that the bets he placed did not relate to any matches over which he could have had any influence and as a result his punishment is one of the more lenient possibilities.

In the past Newcastle United winger Andros Townsend, who at the time played for Tottenham Hotspur, was given a four month ban, three of which were suspended, as well as an £18,000 ban for betting.

Similarly the striker Cameron Jerome, who in 2013 played for Stoke City, was fined £50,000 after he admitted that he broke the betting rules a number of times. The then Newcastle midfielder Dan Gosling is another to have breached the rules and he received a £30,000 in 2014.

A worldwide ban on betting for all those involved in football came into effect on August 1, 2014. The FA’s rule E8 states that players cannot bet directly or indirectly on any aspect of a football match or any other matter related to football. Players are also banned from knowingly providing inside information to other people for the purpose of betting