Police Scotland’s investigation into match fixing centred on a Celtic match from last season.
Dougie Imrie of Hamilton Accies was arrested but not charged after an irregular betting pattern was reported.
These days bookmakers can offer around 100 different markets on any football match ranging from the number of corners to handicap scoring and how many yellow and red cards will be issued.
Bets can be placed on which players will be booked with the Daily Record reporting that option as the reason for the Police enquiry.
Imrie said he’s confused over what has sparked the probe as it centres on a match played more than a year ago on January 26, 2019, when Accies were beaten 3-0 by Celtic.
He picked up a yellow card in the 82nd minute for a bad foul on Scott Brown. In 483 matches in Scottish senior football, he was booked 118 times – once every four games.
He added: “If you were going to bet on anything, it would be me getting a yellow card. It happened all the time. The odds would’ve been pretty short. There’s some players who just need to look at the referee the wrong way and they get booked. That was me.
“I played the game in a committed fashion and always gave my best for my clubs. I’d never jeopardise that. The money talked about is the bookies paying out £11,000 on stakes of about £5000 and the betting pattern involving about 15 people.
“Divided by 15 people, it means you’re only talking about a few hundred pounds each. It’s nonsense to think I’d contemplate wrecking my future, reputation and even the risk of going to jail on something like this. I’d like to think at the end of the police probe I’ll receive an apology but I’m not holding my breath.”
Hamilton keeper Ryan Fulton was badly at fault for Celtic’s first two goals, scored by Callum McGregor and Ryan Christie.
Gambling issues have surrounded Scottish football for some time with the three main competitions sponsored by bookmakers but no-one involved in the game allowed to place bets on any football match worldwide.
Any poll of Celtic fans before a match with Hamilton would probably put Imrie as the opposing player most likely to be booked.
The sponsorships from Ladbrokes and William Hill expire at the end of this season, which may already be over.