A-League betting scandal: Why Football Association wants yellow card bets scrapped

Betting on yellow cards has become popular with punters, but the Football Association does not approve. See why.

There’s very little you can do to throw a team sport, but in soccer you can pretty much guarantee a yellow card, or perhaps a red card, if you foul someone badly enough.

UK websites offer a lot of options when it comes to card bets.

And, it was the United Kingdom Gambling Commission which first alerted Australian authorities to suspicious betting involving Macarthur FC.

Police will allege a senior player, paid junior players $10,000 to give away a yellow card, all under the instruction of an organised crime figure in South America.

Betting on cards has become big business for gambling sites, offering the option of choosing one or more players to be shown a yellow or red card during the game. You can also bet on how many cards will be shown.

But it is also controversial.

Last year the Football Association said it wanted gambling companies to withdraw betting on yellow cards and other incidents due to growing concerns about spot-fixing during matches.

It followed an investigation by the FA into suspicious betting patterns around Premier League games, in a handful of high-profile investigations into gambling on yellow cards in the past five years.

Lucas Paqueta (above) of West Ham United was investigated over this yellow card against AFC Bournemouth. He denies any wrongdoing. (Photo by Henry Browne/Getty Images)

Companies will be reluctant to give it up voluntarily.

The UK-based The Footy Accumulators website, which offers predictions and tips, said betting on cards has been growing in popularity due to the “great value they can offer”.

Another site, The Punters Page, said cards are an “untapped betting gem” and a “brilliant opportunity for punters”.

In its rundown it offered its top 10 best sites for card bets, with bet365 the number one choice for “offering the most markets for yellow and red card betting”.

On Friday, UK site SpreadEx Sports was offering 50 different card bets for Saturday’s Wellington Phoenix v Melbourne Victory match and the same again for Central Coast (Mariners) v Sydney FC game.

Apart from card bets, punters can put money on all manner of weird and wonderful combinations, even though they may be harder to fix, such as the result, for example.

There’s also goals over / under, first goalscorer, goalscorer, last goalscorer, shots on target, minutes goals are scored, throw ins, corner kicks and penalties, plus much more.

And, the UK websites are also welcoming of bets on lots of Aussie sports, and if it’s on, you can bet, including, horse racing, greyhounds, AFL, and the NRL.