Tough new rules introduced by England’s Football Association will outlaw all football-related betting for players, club employees and match officials in the top eight levels of the sport.
It means that starting with the 2014-15 season, gambling on any match, in England or anywhere in the world, will be prohibited.
Betting on off-field developments such as managerial moves and player transfers will also be banned.
The crackdown applies to bets made in person, online, on the telephone or through a friend or any third party, the FA states on its web site, which contains a video explaining the tightening of its gambling rules.
Previously, only betting on a match or competition in which an individual was involved or could influence was prohibited.
That restriction will be retained for minor league clubs.
Earlier this year, FA General Secretary Alex Horne said match-fixing and spot-fixing were “not big issues” in the English game, despite several arrests as part of a National Crime Agency investigation. Rather, with the massive rise of online sites allowing gamblers to wager on a huge range of match-related markets in real time, coupled with a steady stream of match-fixing cases from around the world, the FA decided to clarify its own regulations.
