Sports stars who gambled and lost

TIM Simona is facing a ban after becoming embroiled in a betting scandal. He wouldn’t be the first Australian sports star to breach gambling codes.

WESTS Tigers centre Tim Simona is facing being rubbed out of the NRL over a betting scandal.

Simona is accused of breaking the game’s gambling code and the governing body on Friday issued the 25-year-old with a notice to cancel his registration.

Simona has the right to appeal but has been barred from training and playing, including being withdrawn from Friday night’s trial match against North Queensland at Campbelltown.

A host of Australian sports stars have previously been found guilty of gambling on their sports, from small $10 bets to much larger punts.

RUGBY LEAGUE

* Journeyman prop Ryan Tandy was banned from the NRL after being found guilty of spot-fixing in a 2010 match between the Bulldogs and Cowboys.

He was found guilty of purposely giving away a penalty in the hope of conceding a goal however the sting failed to come off after North Queensland took a quick tap and scored a try.

Tandy was fined $4000 and given a 12-month good behaviour bond before dying of a suspected drug overdose in 2014.

* Former Test winger David Williams was banned for the rest of the year in 2014 after being found guilty of placing bets on matches he was involved in.

The bets ranged from $5 to $60.

Ethan Lowe, Hymel Hunt, Slade Griffin and Cody Nelson were also banned for two weeks after placing bets on fixtures in which they did not play.

There was no suggestion that Williams, Hunt, Lowe, Griffin or Nelson were involved in match-fixing of any kind.

Former Manly winger David Williams.

RACING

* In December last year, one of the stars of racing James McDonald , received an 18-month disqualification after making $4000 from a $1000 bet placed on his behalf on a horse he rode to victory last year. McDonald, Sydney’s champion jockey last year, also lost his $1 million contract with Godolphin.

* Horse racing’s reputation was sullied when one of its golden boys, jockey Damien Oliver , was revealed to have placed a $10,000 bet on a horse riding against his own mount, Miss Octopussy, in late 2010. Oliver was banned for 10 months although many believed it should have been longer.

* Melbourne Cup-winning jockey Blake Shinn was given a 15-month suspension after it was revealed he and fellow jockey Peter Robl placed huge sums on races in which they were riding. Racing NSW stewards revealed the pair bet more than $300,000 over a two-year period on accounts belonging to other members of the family.

TENNIS

* Nick Lindahl was banned for seven years for match fixing at a futures tournament in Toowoomba in 2013. Lindahl retired from tennis after being found guilty of supplying information to two men that he would tank his match against qualifier Andrew Corbitt knowing they would use the information to bet on the outcome.

Nick Lindahl was handed a seven-year ban.

AFL

* As a teenager and Swans rookie, Kieren Jack escaped with a reprimand by the AFL for breaching its gambling policy after placing two bets totalling $10 on matches.

Simon Goodwin copped a $40,000 fine (half suspended) for placing four bets on AFL matches totalling more than $16,000 while Daniel Ward (Melbourne) and David Hale (Kangaroos) were also fined.

FOOTBALL

* In 2014, four players and a coach from the Southern Stars team which played in the Victoria Premier League pleaded guilty to rigging football matches along with a man linked to an Asian match fixing syndicate.

Team members were recruited by the criminal syndicate run out of Malaysia and won or lost games according to bets the syndicate had placed.