May 22- All professional footballers in England will be banned from betting on football matches from next season following a string of damaging incidents that have rocked the domestic game.
The stringent crackdown was ratified at the Football Association’s Annual General Meeting and will apply to players in the top eight tiers of English football.
Players are currently banned from betting on competitions only in which their club is involved but the new rules, which come into effect August 1, take that a whole lot further and, crucially, include all games around the world.
“Participants covered by the ban will be prohibited from betting, either directly or indirectly, on any football match or competition that takes place anywhere in the world,” an FA statement said.
“The changes to FA rules from the start of the 2014-15 season will also effect a worldwide prohibition on betting on any other football-related matter. For example, the transfer of players, employment of managers or team selection. The passing of inside information to somebody that uses the information for betting remains prohibited.”
Earlier this month, a second-tier striker was handed a suspended three-month ban and fined £60,000 in the latest breach of football’s betting rules to hit the English game, for years considered the bastion of fair play off the field as well as on it.
Dexter Blackstock of Nottingham Forest, currently recovering from a serious knee injury sustained while on loan at Leeds United, was charged with multiple breaches of conduct but will only serve the punishment if he offends again.
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