The English Football Association (FA) are tired of issues concerning professional footballers and betting, which has led them to a rather drastic decision – A world-wide sports betting ban for all professional football players in England.
The ban will be in place from August 1st this year and means that all footballers under the FA will not be allowed to place wagers on any football matches. Not only is the ban effective within the UK, the ban is from betting anywhere in the world, which means that even on a holiday, players cannot place a bet on a football match if they play professionally in England.
The announcement came yesterday and means that all players playing in the Premier League and all the lower divisions will be affected by this new rule. Players cannot place wagers on player transfers, games, management changes, team selections and everything else related to football in any sort of way.
The current rule states that players are not allowed to place bets on games and events which they can directly or indirectly influence in any sort of way. While this has been sufficient in most countries, it has not been so in England, where several cases has come up in the past, where players used inside knowledge to win on bets or directly influenced outcomes of games and events for their own benefit.