FA chiefs to probe bribe report
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The Football Association are to investigate a report that a player accepted a £50,000 bribe to get himself sent off in a match.
According to The Independent, a player with a serious gambling problem agreed a deal with a bookmaker to write off his betting debts.
The report claimed the match was played in the last two years "in Britain" but did not name the player nor state which league or home nation was involved.
An FA spokesman said: "We will be making inquiries into this report."
FA investigators' first step will be to establish whether the match concerned took place in England, otherwise it would be beyond their jurisdiction.
According to the report, the player agreed to get himself sent off and persuade three team-mates to get booked in a specific game.
The case disclosed in a seminar on gambling at the Sporting Chance clinic in Hampshire this week.
The clinic's chief executive Peter Kay said he was aware of the case.
Kay said: "Neither I nor Sporting Chance is responsible for what a client or ex-client might say, but if you're asking whether I'm aware of this case, the answer is yes."