Do they know? I think they know.
On Tuesday, Heart of Midlothian defeated Motherwell 2-1 in Scottish Premier League action at Fir Park. With apologies to Shane, I’m not sure how many of us noticed.
Scottish football has been undergoing a bit of a crisis lately, having to deal with a referee’s strike forcing the cancellation of matches and clubs facing financial executions.
Now we get allegations of irregularities in betting surrounding that Hearts v Motherwell match.
There have been numerous investigations into match-fixing in other areas of the world over the past few years. Just yesterday we learned that the Italian mafia has touched 1.Bundesliga, and don’t even get us started on UF favorite Henrietta Rushwaya.
Now it’s the SPL’s turn, with the issue surrounding the straight red card shown to Motherwell’s Steve Jennings in the 82nd minute. Having already been shown a yellow card in the 8th minute, Jennings should have been on his best behavior to avoid a second booking. Late in the match, however, referee Stevie O’Reilly denied shouts for a penalty and the Motherwell midfielder grabbed the latter’s arm while protesting the decision.
Enough for a yellow card, certainly, but Jennings was shown a straight red card. Later reports stated that the decision to award the straight red was due not to the contact, but to “insulting, offensive and aggressive language.”
F@#k!
Perhaps a bit harsh, but within a strict interpretation of the rules insulting language directed toward an official warrants a red card. So what’s the problem here?
Well, it seems that the Association of British Bookmakers (ABB) has informed the SPL that they are conducting an investigation into unusual betting patterns in the Hearts v Motherwell match. Specifically, they are focused on bets that a straight red card would be handed out in the match. Even more specifically, they are looking at a large bet placed on that proposition from a new account that was opened in Liverpool shortly before the match.
Oh, did I mention that Steve Jennings is from Liverpool?
There were numerous bets placed on the red card prop, but the bet of £500 ($780) at 10/1 odds from a new account is causing the most consternation. The ABB has noted that it is standard procedure to investigate large bets at high odds from new accounts that get paid out, but obviously the match is tainted now, regardless of the outcome of that investigation.
Motherwell, for their part, are fully behind Jennings, with interim manager Gordon Young noting that “everyone at the club is 100% behind him.” Midfielder Chris Humphrey laments the fact that the investigation has been so visible, arguing that Jennings is now tainted regardless of whether or not he is actually guilty.
That’s a fair point, given that it is probably harder to insure that you, as a player, receive a straight red card, than it is for a referee to award an unusually harsh booking. So is the investigation looking into O’Reilly, or is only focused on the actions of Jennings? The ABB hasn’t spoken to that matter, but the individuals at Sportradar, a company that monitors European football matches for integrity, have previously noted that of the 300 European matches believed to be fixed annually, the majority involve the illegal actions of players, rather than referees.
Focused on betting patterns across (and within) matches, Sportradar file reports with the specific federations controlling the leagues with suspect matches, noting that the company believes only 1% of all competitions are fixed. However, when it comes to illegal behaviors, those federations must then turn over the results of their own investigations to the police for further action, and in many instances that isn’t done due to a lack of evidence.
Is Jennings guilty? Is O’Reilly? Maybe Jennings is just a potty-mouthed aggressor and O’Reilly is overly sensitive.
But that bet from Liverpool sure does look bad.
So if I’m reading this right, the suggestion is that Jennings bet there would be a straight red, and then when he saw it was getting late, decided to earn one himself?
That seems like it would be awfully hard to pull off without the referee being in on it.
Precisely. Although the bet likely came from an associate of Jennings (allegedly!) rather than the player himself.
Guardian story has Jennings telling the ref to “stop cheating” his team. And yeah, the big bet from Liverpool on a new account doesn’t look that hot. Perhaps these guys aren’t experienced enough in gambling shenanigans–yet.
I don’t get it. $7800 is not a lot of money to jeopardize your career and reputation over.
@ LE: Yes, but another bit on that Guardian story was that Jennings has been getting injections in his mouth for bad teeth; club wanted him to wait for removal until after the season, now he’s having a good sit and will have them pulled while on suspension. Perhaps he really needed the time off and extra dough for dental work.
That seems equally absurd. But maybe it’s the kind of absurd that’s so crazy it must be true, because who makes that shit up?
Anyone else think that if we replaced Scotland with “insert random South American country here” everything would make perfect sense
well, clearly this sort of thing happens in Bolivia all the time
the title is a reference to a Pink Floyd song, you Philistines!
No one appreciates my artistry.
hello hello, there’s clearly no-one in here
just nod if you can hear the NYK
is there anyone home?
JT: I prefer this version
crikey, Keith… DC has done a number on you already!
/I jest
@NYK: I didn’t realize we were required to acknowledge every pop culture reference you guys make.
.
@Keith: I do too. Scissor Sisters make everything more fun.