By Mark Baber
June 24 – The French League (LFP) issued a statement yesterday announcing that 87 professional players in France will be investigated for having failed to comply with the regulations banning players from betting on LFP competitions.
“According to the statement of the LFP Disciplinary Committee: “Under Articles 124 of the General Regulations of the FFF and 407 of the regulations of the LFP, the Disciplinary Committee will investigate the cases of 87 professional clubs players who have not complied with the ban on betting on sports competitions organized by LFP, despite information campaigns by the LFP, the UCPF and UNFP.”
According to the Committee, the bets are “an offense under the Act of February 1, 2012 and the sporting regulations of the FFF and the LFP.”
The information on players making bets has been obtained “following a decision of the Board of Directors of the LFP of 19 December 2013 implementing a procedure to check if the bans on betting are respected in accordance with the decree of October 22, 2013.”
The procedure was quite simply to cross check the files held by the betting regulators ARJEL with the LFP lists of 1600 professional players.
According to the LFP, “The infringements cause no suspicion of fraud in the conduct of matches and thus the integrity of competitions.”
The 87 reportedly include 19 players from Ligue 1, 54 from Ligue 2 and 14 from the National (third division). The average amount gambled was just 20 euros, but 14 players bet more than 500 euros.
23 players bet against their own team, including five who took part in matches on which they had laid bets.
The revelations raise questions about the education of the 5.44% of French players who have been caught out: firstly, to understand the basic rules under which they are supposed to operate; and secondly to appreciate the technical capacities of the authorities to enforce the rules.
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