Wenger: 'Kick Him Out Of Football!'

Last updated : 06 April 2008 By Footy Mad - Editor

The Football Association are to investigate a report by The Independent that a player with a serious gambling problem agreed a deal with a bookmaker to write off his debts.

The match is said to have been played in the last two years "in Britain", but the report did not name the player nor state which league or home nation was involved.

The player, it is claimed, agreed to get himself sent off and persuade three team-mates to pick up cautions in a specific match.

Wenger: "He has to come out really with it because I don't think it is fair. If there is a confidentiality problem, then he (Sporting Chance Clinic) shuts his mouth completely.

"I believe it throws suspicion into our sport that is unfair unless you name the guy.

"I don't think it is a problem. However, match-fixing is horrible. I never could believe that it could happen here.

"You want justice to be done. If you want to win the game and you know that the matches are fixed, the sport has no chance.

"For any single case that you find, you have to ban for life.

"If you say I bet on the first corner, the guy can say: 'okay corner'. What is a corner? It will not influence the game," he said.

"At the moment, the gambling exists and it is difficult to stop it.

"When I was a player we played cards and for a little bit of money - but already at that time when I played the money became too high and had an influence on some players.

"If you go into a game and you have already lost your bonus before you play you could see it affected mentally the players.

"You would prefer for the players not to gamble among themselves before a game because it raises the tension individually. You do not want that.

"Unless I am completely naive, I don't really believe that exists in my teams. Nowadays, more you have every guy on his computer watching a film, rather than playing cards.

"It was before, now I feel it has disappeared."