Following the cases of two high-profile disputes involving English Premier League players, Online bookmaker Betway has ended bets on football player transfers across all its territories, and they hope other bookmakers take the same action.
Daniel Sturridge (then at Liverpool FC) and Kieran Trippier (then at Tottenham Hotspurs), players of the English Premier League were both fined by the English Football Association this year for breaking betting rules.
After the English Football Association decided that Sturridge had provided insider details to his family members so they could bet on his then mooted move to Seville FC, he was granted a four-month suspension and a £75,000 fine in March.
In May, the FA charged Kieran Trippier for leaking details to friends about his transfer to Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2019. He has to respond until June 26.
Under FA rules, registered professionals must not betting directly nor instruct or enable anyone to place bets on the match result, progress, any other aspect of the sport, including transfers.
Betway’s Head of Corporate Communications Alan Alger told the media, “The FA have strict rules on betting and we feel that offering odds on players to move to specific clubs highlights a grey area which has caused issues in the past. It is best removed as an option. When there are hundreds of prices and markets offered on most games, this is part of the football betting experience that we are happy to see shut down.”
