Policing the punters is a tricky business

WORD is out that players, managers and officials will soon be banned from gambling on any football match, whether at home or abroad.

As it stands, FA rules prohibit betting on competitions in which their own clubs are involved.

Spurs winger Andros Townsend, on-loan Crystal Palace striker Cameron Jerome and Accrington managing director Robert Heys have all fallen foul of the regulations in recent times.

Suspended Tranmere boss Ronnie Moore, formerly of Athletic, is being investigated by the FA’s Football Integrity Unit over alleged gambling on matches.

With spot-fixing and match-fixing in the headlines — Cristian Montano, the sacked Athletic winger, was caught on video apparently apologising for not being booked in the first half of a game at Wolves — the governing body is keen on a zero-tolerance approach.

That may sound a sensible safeguard against corruption. Given that the gambling industry is deeply embedded in football in this country, it throws up some strange contradictions.

Stoke City, for example, have Bet365 as shirt sponsors thanks to the largesse of company founder and club chairman Peter Coates.

Television audiences worldwide watching the club play in the Premier League, therefore, are encouraged to have a flutter.

Yet if the FA has its way the Stoke groundsman, for example, won’t be able to have a wager on which country he thinks is going to win the World Cup next year. Officially, anyway.

In the real world, any player or official can persuade an associate to walk into a betting shop without the need for personal phone or internet account records to come into play. Which only goes to show the messy battle the authorities face.