Andros Townsend has been banned for four months and fined £18,000 for breaking FA Rule E8, which covers misconduct in relation to betting. Three months of Townsend's suspension has been suspended until 1 July 2016. Unless I'm very much mistaken he's basically been given a slap on the wrist, unless he does something stupid again in the next three years. He'll miss out on the U21 Euros but that's fair enough, really.
The penalty suggests he'd probably had a fiver on Aldershot v Dagenham & Redbridge rather than bet on any games where he was directly involved or was likely to have priveleged information he could use to his advantage.
Penalties like this are too mild. Football has got a big problem with gambling and match fixing. One way to at least help convince fans they aren't watching a fixed result is to punish anyone involved with betting on sports severely. I won't say it works, exactly, in the US, but it's a step in the right direction.
Townsend's reaction via Twitter, edited into something more comprehensible: "Following a personal hearing at the FA and the statement issued today, I fully accept the disciplinary action and shall not be appealing. This has been a regrettable experience from which I fully intend to come back stronger. Now I'm fully focused on returning to football during pre-season & determined for this indiscretion to not tarnish my career moving forward." Let's hope that he can follow up the flashes of real potential that he showed in his loan spell and make a real impact on the next campaign. Given Villas-Boas' style of play, I think that he could really push Lennon for his place or at least provide a substantial option on either wing.
Give him a massive payrise , like £10m/year . Then , there's no need for him to put a fiver eachway .
Wager think he did it? Anyway, he's clarified a few things now. http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11675/8762383
I didn't spot I'd already posted here and from the title, got all excited thinking that blathering idiot Andy Townsend was banned from commentating.
