The seven biggest betting scandals in football after Oxford vs Arsenal controversy

As the FA launch their investigation into a yellow card in Arsenal’s FA Cup clash with Oxford United, we look back at some of the biggest betting scandals in football.

Oxford defender Ciaron Brown is the subject of the investigation after a substantial number of bets were placed on him being booked. The FA are now investigating this matter.

After this latest controversy, we looked back at seven other famous betting scandals which rocked the world of football.

Ivan Toney

In November 2022, the Brentford striker was charged with 232 alleged breaches of the FA’s betting regulations. That total was put up to 262 in December.

Toney was required to respond to the charges in early January and it is currently unknown regarding the possible punishment that the 26-year-old will face on the back of the investigation.

Joey Barton

The former Newcastle midfielder was charged by the FA in December 2016 after it was revealed that he place 1260 bets over a period of 10 years, between 2006 and 2016.

It was alleged that Barton broke FA’s regulations by betting on “football matches and competitions”.

In April 2017, Barton was handed a 18 month ban by the FA. The now Bristol Rovers boss has previously admitted that he has placed over 15,000 bets across a range of different sports.

Daniel Sturridge

Sturridge was often regarded as one of the finest strikers England has ever produced. His performances with Liverpool in particular were outstanding.

However, Sturridge’s career was plagued by injuries and in 2019, he was found guilty of breaching betting rules.

The allegation was that he passed on inside information regarding a potential transfer in January 2018.

As a result, the FA banned Sturridge for four months and was hit with a fine of £150,000.

Sturridge’s club at the time, Turkish side Trabzonspor acted quick to cancel the striker’s contract.

Wayne Shaw

Shaw’s misjudged moment of ‘banter’ led to him being handed a fine of £375 and a two-month football ban from the FA.

The Sutton United reserve goalkeeper provided one of the funniest moments in FA Cup history when he was seen eating a pie live on tv during their clash with Arsenal.

However, it was later revealed that Sun Bets were offering odds of 8/1 for Shaw to be caught eating a pie on camera.

This led to a rather unsavoury end to Shaw’s time with Sutton as he resigned from the club and was later punished by the FA for intentionally influencing a football betting market.

Andros Townsend

Townsend was caught breaching betting rules during his loan spell with Birmingham City.

The winger revealed in the 12/13 campaign that he lost £46,000 in one night as his gambling addiction spiralled out of control.

He was banned from football for four months.

Matt Le Tissier

The former Southampton player revealed in his autobiography that he conspired with friends and teammates to try and make money on the first throw in during a match.

Le Tissier was required to kick the ball out during the first few minutes in order for the bet to come in. However, he claimed that he failed to do it in time and therefore made no money from the bet. No further action was taken.

Kieran Trippier

Trippier’s infamous WhatsApp messages led to the full-back being banned for 10 weeks and was fined £70,000.

The England international allegedly told friends: “Lump on if you want” as he was close to sealing a transfer to Atletico Madrid back in 2019.

Although Trippier did not benefit financially, he was punished for passing on inside knowledge.