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FA hand out soft penalties in match fixing case

The FA, or more correctly, "an independent FA regulatory commission" have handed out pathetically soft penalties against four players involved in betting on a match they were in. This is about as close to organised match-fixing as it gets.

Four banned for betting on game

Disciplinary chiefs have expressed "serious concerns" that a Football League match may have been fixed after four players were banned for between five months and a year for betting on the outcome.

The four players have been suspended and fined after betting on the outcome of the League Two match between Accrington and Bury on May 3 2008 - three of the players were with Stanley at the time and the other at Bury, who won the game 2-0.

Jay Harris has been banned for a year and fined a total of £5,500 by an independent FA regulatory commission, David Mannix has been given a 10-month ban and fined £4,000, and Robert Williams suspended for eight months and fined £3,500. Andrew Mangan, who was then a Bury player, has been banned for five months and fined £2,000 for betting on his team to win.


Here's my post about this scandal from several months ago.

No sympathy for these blokes, they should have been kicked out of the sport forever. You don't play League 2 football and suddenly spend a month's wages on a bet just because you fancy it. Players can be out injured for longer than these piss-poor suspensions. So they might lose their livelihood? They should have considered that in the first place!!

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