Pie-gate Betting Scandal Rocks Sutton Utd Goalie
February 22, 2017 10:05 amOn Monday, February 20th, Premiership side Arsenal played Sutton United in the fifth round of the FA Cup, a National League team placed 105 places below them in the English football league. While the spirited match was eventually won 2-0 by Arsenal, an incident which occurred during the game is continuing to dominate the news.
Sutton United’s reserve goalkeeper, Wayne Shaw, was seen munching his way through a pie while the match was in full-swing, which while unusual, is not a news stopping event in itself. However, it turns out that online betting website SunBets had offered 8-1 odds against the 300 pound goalie doing so during the match, with at least one punter collecting a five-figure payout after the occurrence.
As a result, the Football Association and the Gambling Commission are currently investigating the incident for any hint of a betting scandal, and as UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) enforcement and intelligence director Richard Watson, explains:
“Integrity in sport is not a joke and we have opened an investigation to establish exactly what happened. As part of that we’ll be looking into any irregularity in the betting market and establishing whether the operator has met its license requirement to conduct its business with integrity.”
What has been established so far is that Wayne Shaw was aware of the bet having been offered on him resisting scoffing a pie during the game, but he also states that he did not place a bet on himself. Nevertheless, Sutton United manager Paul Doswell has since accepted Shaw’s resignation from the club, and while he has expressed his confidence that Shaw would not have gambled on himself, Doswell said that if any of his staff or players are later found to have done so, then they would “suffer the same consequences.”
In the meantime, not wanting to miss out on a good opportunity to promote its products, supermarket chain Morrisons has already offered Wayne Shaw a new job, as one of their pie tasters. As Chief Pie Buyer, Tessa Callaghan, commented to the Independent recently:
“We’re always looking for the best talent to taste our pies and make sure they hit the back of the net.. We were really impressed by his commitment to pie eating, and we understand that a good pie is the best way to warm up for any occasion, even if it is the biggest night of your football career.”