FA suspends York City footballer for betting violations

A football player for York City FC of the National League North has been suspended for one month by the Football Association (FA) for placing a number of bets on his own sport.

Joshua King placed 139 bets across two seasons, with 94 placed across the 2020/21 campaign, of which 13 were in connection with either a match or competition in which York City were participating.

The defender told an FA disciplinary hearing that the bets had been placed by friends who he had given access to his Sky Bet account, but upon further investigation the authority decided that only he could have made the wagers.

Officials concluded that ‘almost invariably JK’s own mobile phone service provider internet or his own home wi-fi was used to place the bets online’, meaning that King was in violation of the FA’s Rule 8 preventing players, coaches, match officials and club staff from placing bets on any football match.

In total, King staked £872.52 with a loss of £475.23, including two wagers he placed on matches in which York City were playing directly – one of which he was on the bench for as a substitute.

“The club has clear policies in place regarding betting and continues to provide education via the FA for all club employees,” York City detailed in a statement.

“We are very disappointed by the situation. However, we will continue to support those affected throughout the process.”

The development is the latest in a number of betting scandals to have implicated York City, with the club’s Assistant manager Micky Cummins currently awaiting a decision for violations, whilst midfielder Michael Woods and on-loan goalkeeper Ryan Whitely have also been penalised in the past.

Football continues to feature heavily in reports on suspicious betting alerts by both the International Betting and Integrity Association (IBIA) and Global Lottery Monitoring Service (GLMS).

Publishing its Q3 2021 updates, the IBIA ranked second with regards to the number of alerts detected after tennis, alerting authorities to 18 cases.