Manchester United star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic could get in trouble with the Football Association (FA). The former Paris Saint-Germain star, who first signed as a free agent for Manchester United in 2016 and then signed another one-year contract with the Premier League club in 2017, could face investigation and disciplinary action from the FA over betting firm links.
Reportedly, the FA could investigate the involvement of Ibrahimovic with the Malta-based operator Bethard Group. Earlier in March, the online gambling group which at present times targets the Nordic betting markets, released a statement announcing that it had stroke a deal with the football player. As revealed by the company at the time, Ibrahimovic had been secured by the operator as an official Brand Ambassador of its brand’s flagship sportsbook product.
The online gambling operator has been aimed at becoming the leading sports betting brand in Europe, which is exactly why it have enlisted the help of the football player.
Unfortunately for the operator and Ibrahimovic, currently the Football Association’s rules are very strict in terms of such partnerships and prohibit players from advertising or promoting any gambling and betting products. In case that the FA investigation finds that Ibrahimovic is actually involved with Bethard Group and have breached the existing rules by becoming the brand’s ambassador, he will be asked to cut his relationships with the operator. In case he does not do that, he could face serious sanctions, including a ban.
Football Personnel Banned from Gambling Advertising
As mentioned above, FA’s governing body is set to check the relationship between the player and the gambling operator in order to find out whether Ibrahimovic’ role into the agreement is against the FA rules in terms of gambling activities in football.
For the time being, the Football Association prohibits all football personnel, including managers, players, club and match officials to get involved with gambling companies, from betting on games and promote such companies’ products. According to the FA rules on the matter, an individual football player is not permitted to promote and advertise gambling and betting activities that the player is not allowed to get involved with by rule E8(1) or E8(2).
The past few years have seen the Football Association become more focused on regulating gambling in football, including players’ involvement in such activities by placing bets on matches, as well as their relationship with operators that offer such services.
Betting in football is not a new trend. Joey Barton has suffered a ban from football until June 1st due to his participation in gambling on football matches over a period of ten years. The midfielder confessed there was massive gambling advertising in football, as well as a large amount of sponsorship deals in football. Barton pointed out that many football clubs have been sponsored by gambling operators.
Recently, Kieron Dyer, the former England football team midfielder, has also revealed some striking facts about the actual involvement of football players in betting activities over the past decade and a half. according to Dyer’s autobiography, many Premier League footballers have been dealing with gambling addictions, with their problem gambling behaviour often affecting their performance in crucial matches.
- Author
Daniel Williams
