Irish Football Association proposes ban on player betting
The IFA plans to ban players from betting on football anywhere in the world.
Ireland.- The Irish Football Association (IFA) is reportedly planning to propose a blanket rule banning professional football players and club officials in Northern Ireland from betting on the sport at the global level. According to the Belfast Telegraph, the proposal will be debated at the upcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Limavady on June 16.
The proposal would ban all players, club officials and referees involved in national professional league matches from engaging, directly or indirectly, in any football-related betting anywhere in the world.
The move would bring Northern Ireland’s rules on football players betting into line with those in England, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland, whose respective football associations already impose such a ban. At the moment, Irish League players and officials are banned from betting on domestic matches but can bet on games that take place outside f Northern Ireland.
However, the IFA proposes to amend Football Regulation 35, citing concerns about the risk of match manipulation as the sport expands in the country. More players are coming from abroad, which is raising concerns that they could have insider knowledge on football betting markets in their home nations.
For the moment, the Football Association of Wales also prohibits betting only on domestic football within Wales, but it is also said to be weighing an expansion of the restriction.
Meanwhile, the UK secretary of state for culture, media and sport Lisa Nandy has named David Kogan OBE as the government’s preferred candidate to chair the new Independent Football Regulator. The media executive, historian and journalist will appear before MPs on the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee for pre-appointment scrutiny.
Kogan has held senior positions in the television and sports industries during a 45 year career as a media executive, business leader and corporate advisor. He negotiated a string of high-value TV rights deals for major sporting bodies, such as the Premier League and the English Football League. He has also advised UEFA, The Scottish Premier League, Six Nations, Premier Rugby and the NFL. Most recently, he sold the broadcast rights for the Woman’s Super League.
