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The Football Association (FA) has said it is investigating a yellow card for an Arsenal player after bookmakers reported suspicious betting patterns in a Premier League match this season.
Bookmakers contacted the FA after an unusually high amount of money was placed on the Arsenal player to collect a yellow card.
An FA spokesperson said: "The FA is aware of the matter in question and is looking into it."
It is understood that the matter, which was reported on The Athletic news website, is not under formal investigation by the FA. The Athletic said it knew the name of the player but was not reporting it because of legal issues.
However, the allegation will raise concerns among football authorities, particularly as it involves such a high-profile team with well-paid players.
Betting on players to be booked has grown in popularity in recent years and is now offered by most bookmakers on Premier League matches. The market is also available in-play with some firms and on Betfair's Exchange.
In 2018, defender Bradley Wood was banned for six years — one of football’s longest bans — after intentionally picking up yellow cards in Lincoln City’s cup run.
Wood, 26, was found guilty by an FA tribunal of two charges of match-fixing after telling friends he would try to get booked. The FA said seven people, including two close friends, bet on him to get a yellow card in matches against Ipswich and Burnley.
Wood was given a five-year ban for the match-fixing offences, which he contested, plus a further year after admitting 22 charges of betting on the outcome of matches himself and one charge of passing on information.
In recent years, the FA’s tough clamp down on betting to protect the integrity of the game has seen a marked reduction in cases, and many of those have not been connected to events on the field.
Ex-Sutton goalkeeper Wayne Shaw received a two-month ban in 2018 for "intentionally influencing a football betting market" after he ate a pie, which was a novelty market offered by one bookmaker.
Tabcorp’s Sun Bets was later fined £84,000 for improperly managing risks with novelty markets, including the “piegate” controversy. Shaw was fined £375 by the FA and banned for two months for intentionally influencing a betting market.
England international Kieran Trippier was banned for ten weeks after an independent panel found he had encouraged friends to bet on his transfer to Atletico Madrid from Tottenham in 2019 and former Three Lions forward Daniel Sturridge spent four months on the sidelines for a similar misdemeanour.
Sturridge faced various charges claiming he passed on inside information and he later said: "I feel the betting companies and the practice and process of people placing bets on players moving clubs has to be stopped."
Under FA rules, players, managers or coaching staff are prohibited from betting on the result or progress of any match or competition.
