It hasn’t been a good past couple of weeks for Tottenham, has it?
Shortly after losing out on a Champions League berth, the English Premier League outfit were rocked when midfielder Andros Townsend became the first Premier League player to be charged with breaching Football Association betting rules. The 21-year old midfielder, who was loaned to QPR in the second half of the season, was charged in relation to “a number of “betting offenses”.
According to FA rules, players are banned from betting on matches in competitions that they are involved in, either on their clubs or the national teams, regardless of whether they are involved in matches.
For the record, Townsend wasn’t charged of match-fixing because the alleged bets he made were for fixtures that he wasn’t involved in. But as far as the FA’s rules go, it found enough ground to charge the young winger for betting on fixtures.
It certainly didn’t help Townsend’s cause that he posted a tweet on Twitter indicating his intentions to bet on the Championship playoffs. “Might put a bet on a london club winning the championship playoffs! Have just got a feeling…..,” he tweeted.
The FA has given Townsend until June 3 to respond to the allegations.
QPR manager Harry Redknap, the man Townsend played under during the second half of he season, was quoted by Mailonline saying that the young English player is the last person he would’ve thought to make bets on football. “If I had been asked to picked 20 footballers who like a bet on the football, I wouldn’t have picked him, that’s for sure,” Redknapp said. “I just didn’t think he was like that and I didn’t have any idea he liked a bet on the football. All I know is that he is a good kid and a talented footballer and I’m going to call him to make sure he’s okay.”
Townsend isn’t the first player to be charged with breaching FA betting regulations, but since he plays in the Premier League and is under contract for one of its marquee teams, he’s quite arguably the most high-profile footballer to be have allegedly violated the FA’s betting regulations.
