One soccer player has been suspended from his Scottish Football Association team for committing the cardinal sin of professional athletes… and then doing it again almost 3,000 more times.
Beginning in the 2011-12 season, Dean Brett of Cowdenbeath allegedly placed 2,787 bets spanning 6,369 matches. Sixty-five of those bets were placed on matches Cowdenbeath was involved in, including eight in which Brett picked his own team to lose. He played in five games of those eight games, according to a Cowdenbeath statement.
Cowdenbeath suspend Dean Brett on full pay following disclosure of his betting on 2787 games inc 65 involving Cowdenbeath. pic.twitter.com/Ytpz39v2UZ
— Andy Muirhead (@andymuirhd) February 20, 2017
These are obviously very, very serious allegations. Betting on sports is a no-no for pro athletes, betting on games involving your own team can get you banned (ask Pete Rose), and betting on your team to lose in a game you’re playing is basically unconscionable. Players betting on games they’re involved in undermines the entire league.
This kind of thing is obviously more likely to happen in, say, the fourth tier of the Scottish football system, where pay is light and spotlight is limited, but scandals like this hopefully remind leagues to be vigilant about gambling.
Brett has been suspended with pay and will face a disciplinary hearing this week. Assuming the evidence against him is credible, he should face a hefty—perhaps permanent—punishment.