NO BET SHOULD BE NON-RUNNER

As another Cheltenham week leaves its bruises on some unwitting punters but made others whoop for joy, the enigmatic world of betting once more comes into focus.  The League of Ireland has had its fair share of betting scandals over the past couple of years but most of them were storms that wouldn't fill a doll's teacup.  Nonetheless, it is worth looking at the rules of betting in the League of Ireland and asking are they too stringent or wholly necessary for the integrity of the sport?

Sports men by their nature tend to like sport.  In addition, although League of Ireland players are now all part-time, the reality is that few have other jobs and so have plenty of time on the their hands.  It is one of the oldest clichés in the football book that players will spend those non-training hours in a bookie's shop, a snooker hall or a pub.  While pubs are certainly out these days (most League of Ireland players are scrupulous about barely taking drink at all during the season) and snooker halls are fairly innocuous hangouts, the bookies remains a concern.

Of course, like the rest of the population, a large proportion of players wouldn't bet on anything outside of Cheltenham or the Grand National, but equally there are others who enjoy a punt, some socially, others to an extreme.

Now, there is nothing whatsoever to stop a player betting on anything outside of League of Ireland football (proper order, the FAI haven't fully embraced fascism yet!) but when it comes to betting on matches, it's absolutely verboten.

Two recent examples of players falling foul of the regulations demonstrate the levels to which the FAI will go to stop any form of gambling on League of Ireland or cup matches by players.  By way of declaration, I should say that I acted for both of these players so I am somewhat biased in my views, but the punishment meted out to them in the first instance on each occasion was ludicrous and, in the case of Gareth McGlynn, even on appeal was grossly excessive.

The first official offender was Gary Dempsey who placed a €20 losing bet on a St Pat's match in which he didn't participate.  It was part of a losing double with an English game.  He was initially banned for five matches but on appeal this was very fairly reduced to two matches.  There was a technical argument that he hadn't breached the rules but the ultimately the appeal decision was a just one.  Even though he hadn't played in, influenced or even profited from the match, betting on your own team is correctly banned and it was right that he serve some punishment for this.

However, the case of Gareth McGlynn is more recent and does not reflect well on the FAI.  He bet on three matches, none of which involved his club and he lost all three bets.   He had no way of influencing the bets or profiting from them outside of the average punter, yet his punishment was a jaw-dropping two months in the first instance.  This was later reduced to one month on appeal but it made no sense then and it still doesn't.

Basically, the rule is that a player cannot bet on any competition in which they or their club is participating and this clearly includes all League of Ireland and cup matches.  There is no doubt that by the letter of the rule, McGlynn was guilty of breaching it.  However, the offence in question was so minor, it beggared belief that he received a time ban to begin with (which is nearly unheard of) and one which ensured he missed a decent chunk of last season (Bohs could certainly have done with him, in hindsight).

The FAI have correctly decided that they must ensure that corruption in the game is stamped out.  However, does treating every breach of a minor nature as a hanging offence serve a purpose?  At one stage in the last few years, I was worried that Joe Gamble might be banned just because of his name.

The recent events in Finland where a number of players have been arrested for allegedly fixing matches will no doubt lend credence to the FAI's argument but it is very difficult to see how betting on a match involving completely different teams can have any effect on the integrity of the game.

Indeed, I find it hard to see how a football match can be corrupted at all without the co-operation of nearly all the players and, also probably, the referee.  Which is not to say that it doesn't happen, merely that it is very difficult and there isn't a shred of evidence that it has ever occurred in this country.  It's also not a rule applied so strictly in some other jurisdictions.

Ultimately, the rules are here to stay and no amount of nay-saying by me is going to change them.  Players will simply have to ensure that when they go to the bookies that they stay away from any Irish football matches.  Doesn't mean it's right, though.

Stuart Gilhooly is the PFAI Solicitor and can be followed on Twitter at www.twitter.com/DSBAPresident