Red Card: Soccer Stars Who Gambled & Lost

This summer, it’s all about soccer in Europe. The UEFA Euro 2024 tournament is underway. Germany is hosting the event; inviting 24 teams, from the continent, to battle it out on the pitch.

The tournament is a gold rush for the teams, organizers and broadcasters, as well as Euro betting sites and retail bookmakers.

Both Germany and France anticipate betting revenues in excess of €1 billion. These figures will likely be emulated across Europe and the wider world.

Sports and gambling have always been complicated bedfellows. It’s passionate. It’s thrilling. It’s a little bit naughty.

It’s exciting, when you’re one win away from bringing home a four-team parlay. There are 5 minutes to go. If your team wins, so do you. Betting adds a little hot sauce to the action.

However, like a burger and fries, or mac and cheese, you can have too much of a good thing. Those naughty but nice bets and combos can come at a cost.

For some, gambling is a problem and an addiction. Chasing a dopamine rush, riding the adrenalin. It can get a grip of you.

Professional soccer players and officials are strictly forbidden from betting on any soccer game, anywhere in the world; from professional games to grassroots knockabouts.

The worldwide ban was introduced in 2014, following a series of scandals. The ban also covers soccer-related issues, including player transfers, team selection, and management shuffles.

Over the years, a handful of soccer pros have either fallen foul of the addiction, or tried to tilt games in their favor.

Today, gambling addiction is usually treated as an illness, instead of a lifestyle choice. Soccer players, and athletes generally, have an inherently competitive nature. It comes with the territory.

Not surprisingly, some are tempted by the opportunity to beat the system. Just remember the golden rule: the house always wins.

Lucas Paqueta (Midfield) – West Ham and Brazil

In May, 2024, Lucas Paqueta was charged by the FA with breaking betting rules.

The Brazil international and West Ham midfielder has been under investigation since summer 2023; triggered by a flurry of wagers from an island bearing his name, 6,000 miles away from the UK.

The suspicious betting activity originated from Paqueta Island, off the coast of Rio de Janeiro.

The bets were all on yellow cards, many at the maximum stake allowed. The bets were all on games where Lucas Paqueta got booked in the second half.

Paqueta denied the charges against him and expressed his ‘surprise and regret’. His £80 million ($101M) move to Manchester City is on hold.

Sandro Tonali (Midfield) – Newcastle

Newcastle signing Sandro Tonali is spending most of the 2024 season on the bench.

The Italian midfielder has an on-going 10-month ban, until August, for betting offenses committed at his previous club AC Milan, last July.

In March, the FA added an extra two-month ban for making an additional 40 to 50 wagers, including four on the results of his own club.

Tonali is being fully supported by his club with ‘a therapeutic plan and educational programming’. The experience has had a ‘profound effect’ on the player and is ‘not something he wants to experience again’.

Wayne Rooney (Forward) – Manchester United and England

Wayne Rooney is a player who admits that he made big mistakes and learned from them.

In his early career, the England player spent a lot of time alone; away from home and in hotel rooms. He would make telephone bets to fill the time.

Early wins persuaded Rooney it was ‘easy money’. He then started losing bets and chasing his losses.

Today, Rooney is an advocate for responsible betting.

No doubt, the former England striker will be following the Euro 2024 schedule and tuning into games, remembering his brief spell as the youngest goal scorer in the history of the European Championship in UEFA Euro 2004.

What a legend.

Paul Merson (Forward) – Arsenal and England

Paul Merson’s story is one of the saddest, when it comes to addiction and gambling.

In 1994, he confessed to an alcohol and cocaine addiction and received treatment. However, at the time, his gambling addiction was never taken seriously.

In more than 35 years, Merson is estimated to have lost as much as $9 million. The only clarity he ever had in his life was when he was playing on the pitch.

As soon as a game had finished, Merson would be on a desperate mission to gamble or get drunk.

In 2022, Merson released his critically-acclaimed memoir Hooked; charting his journey through addiction.

Today, Merson continues his campaign, urging football clubs to take gambling addiction more seriously; advocating for help and understanding, instead of punitive bans.

Kieran Trippier (Defender) – Newcastle United and England

Right-back Kieran Trippier is a key player in England’s Euro 2024 squad. The 33-year-old brings maturity and experience to the youthful squad.

In 2020, Trippier was given a 10-week ban and fined £70,000 ($89K) for breaches of the betting rules.

According to the Football Association, Trippier had revealed details about his transfer from Tottenham to Atletico Madrid to his friends on WhatsApp; who then went on to make bets about the transfer.

The activity was flagged by the sportsbooks. Trippier denied the allegations, saying ‘he did not place any bets himself or profit from bets made by other people’.

Ivan Toney (Forward) – Brentford and England

Ivan Toney is also in the England squad but is likely to spend the tournament playing second fiddle to Harry Kane.

Last year, the Brentford striker was in the news for all the wrong reasons, when he picked up a £50,000 ($63K) fine and an eight-month ban for 232 breaches of betting rules between 2017 and 2021.

Toney admitted his guilt, showed genuine remorse, and has been diagnosed with a gambling addiction. His club is ‘doing everything it can to support the player and considers the matter closed’.

Let’s hope Ivan gets to shine on the pitch this summer.

Michael Chopra (Forward) – Newcastle United

Striker Michael Chopra admits he was gambling as much as £20,000 ($25K) every day, when he was deep into his addiction.

The Newcastle United player would wake up at 3AM in the morning to make bets on international games. Chopra sank into debt and was threatened by loan sharks on multiple occasions.

Today, Chopra has opened up his DMs to anyone who needs help to tackle this harmful addiction.

He says: “I will always reach out to someone who needs advice because you don’t know what drastic action they might take. I want to try to help. I am there for somebody who needs someone to talk to.”

Papiss Cissé (Forward) – Newcastle and Senegal

Papiss Cissé was one of the most exciting strikers of his generation.

When he was playing at Newcastle, he refused to wear the club shirt, with its sponsor Wonga.com, citing that his Islamic faith forbade his wearing anything that promoted money lending.

However, Cissé was photographed playing blackjack at Aspers Casino in Newcastle, something which is definitely haram.

He also had no objection to wearing shirts bearing the club’s previous sponsor Virgin Money. In the end, Cissé gave way and agreed to wear the shirt.

Sports and Betting

If there are two teams or players competing, whatever the sport, someone will have an opinion on the outcome. If opinions differ, the seeds are sown for a bet. Online casinos and sportsbooks Betano and BWIN are both official sponsors of Euro 2024.

Clearly, the tournament organizers can see the value that sponsorship from online gambling sites can bring to the game.

Add to that the effectiveness of ‘unusual betting activity’ monitoring, as in the cases of Paqueta and Trippier, as well as a steady media stream warning about the dangers of gambling, and maybe sports and betting can continue to rub along together.

There are always people that will struggle with addiction – in whatever form it arrives. Prohibition never works. Learn lessons, practice responsible gambling, bet within your limits, and enjoy.

And – if you’re a soccer player, forbidden from betting on sports, learn to play poker.