Bookies cry foul over Motherwell red card

Foul play

The SFA and the SPL are investigating betting irregularities after Steve Jennings was red carded in last night’s Motherwell-Hearts clash.

The Motherwell defender picked up a booking in the seventh minute from referee Stevie O’Reilly and was shown a straight red card in the 82nd minute.

The red card was widely reported to have been issued for foul and abusive language.

In a statement tonight the SFA admitted: “Following information received from the Association of British Bookmakers (ABB), we are aware of alleged betting irregularities surrounding a sending-off incident in the Motherwell v Heart of Midlothian match on Tuesday, 14th December, 2010.

“At this stage, we are not in possession of the facts regarding the allegations and are waiting for further information from the Scottish Premier League in due course.

“Once we are in possession of all of the facts we will be in a better position to provide more detailed comment on the matter.

“In the meantime, we will be working with our colleagues at the Scottish Premier League to establish the details surrounding this incident.”

There are claims that three figure sums were involved in the ‘sting’ which alerted the bookies to something unusual going on. Before the match the odds on a player being sent off were 8/1.

Any investigation will centre on Jennings and O’Reilly with the player having picked up seven booking in his 18 appearances since joining from Motherwell.

O’Reilly is due to be the fourth official at Saturday’s Hamilton-Celtic match while Jennings is automatically suspended for Motherwell’s match at Aberdeen.

Bookies now offer over 100 betting options on any televised match with betting allowed in play.

Cricket and snooker have been dogged by betting scandals in recent years but this is the first ever investigation into an incident in a top level UK football match.

CLICK HERE for BBC highlights from the match.

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