English FA charge Martin Demichelis for betting misconduct

Posted March 30, 2016 7:00 am

The Associated Press

LONDON (AP) - The English Football Association charged Manchester City defender Martin Demichelis for misconduct in relation to betting on Wednesday.

The FA said the 35-year-old Argentine has been accused of "committing 12 breaches of FA Rule E8 concerning football matches between Jan. 22 and Jan. 28, 2016."

The rule states players cannot "bet, either directly or indirectly, or instruct, permit, cause or enable any person to bet" on the result or outcome of football matches across the world.

It also says players must not cause or enable someone to bet on footballing matters such as player transfers, employment of managers, team selections or disciplinary matters.

The FA did not specify in its statement if Demichelis is accused of betting on his own matches during that time period. City drew 2-2 against West Ham in the Premier League on Jan. 23 and beat Everton 3-1 in the League Cup on Jan. 27, with Demichelis playing every minute of both games.

Demichelis has played 29 times for City in all competitions this season and started for Argentina in the 2-0 win against Bolivia in World Cup qualifying on Tuesday.

A blanket ban was imposed by the FA in August 2014 to prevent anyone involved in football from betting on any match in the world. Before that, players, coaches and officials were only banned from betting on matches in competitions involving their team, but the rules were brought in after a string of high profile cases.

The then third tier club Tranmere fired its manager, Ronnie Moore, in 2014 for breaching betting rules and in 2013, Andros Townsend had to pull out of England's European Under-21 Championship team for breaching regulations.

FILE - In this Jan. 23, 2016, file photo, Manchester City's Martin Demichelis is shown a yellow card by referee Craig Pawson during an English Premier League soccer match against West Ham United in London. The English Football Association charged Manchester City defender Martin Demichelis for misconduct in relation to betting on Wednesday, March 30, 2016. The FA said the 35-year-old Argentine has been accused of "committing 12 breaches of FA Rule E8 concerning football matches between Jan. 22 and Jan. 28, 2016."(AP Photo/Frank Augstein, File) The Associated Press

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