Bookies report 'suspicious' match

[foxystoat]

Apologies if posted elsewhere on the Forum, but incase some of you bet Sunday's Conference game between Grays Athletic and Forest Green and have not had your bets settled, here's why....

BBC SPORT | Football | Non League | Bookies report 'suspicious' match

Two leading bookmakers plan to report suspicious betting patterns surrounding Sunday's Conference game between Grays Athletic and Forest Green Rovers.

Blue Square and William Hill suspended betting on the match after a large number of wagers were placed on Grays to win after trailing at half-time.

Grays won 2-1 after going 1-0 down in the first 45 minutes.

"We'll be reporting this to the FA on Monday to ask how we progress," a Blue Square spokesman told BBC Sport.

He added: "We are withholding stakes in line with our regulations."

Hill's spokesman Graham Sharpe said: "We saw a most unusual betting pattern on this match involving a large number of requests for bets on Grays to be losing at half-time and winning at full-time.

It's always a big price for a team to be losing at half-time and to win at full-time

Blue Square spokesman Alan Alger

"We closed our book and reported our actions to the relevant authorities.

"We have no intention of paying out, pending any potential enquiries which may be undertaken."

Grays scored twice in just 50 second-half seconds to come from behind and beat Forest Green 2-1 in the Blue Square Premier game, the division from which teams are promoted to the Football League.

"We did see unusual betting patterns," said Blue Square spokesman Alan Alger, the firm that sponsors the division.

"We closed the market on Saturday. It looked extremely dodgy. It's always a big price for a team to be losing at half-time and to win at full-time."

Earlier this month, the Football Association charged five players for breaching betting rules, with some accused of gambling thousands of pounds.

The five have been charged with betting on a victory for Bury in Accrington's last game of last season.

All five face serious sanctions, including the chance of suspensions. That case is ongoing and the charges may not be proved.

As regards the match between Grays and Forest Green, the FA may decide the case does not warrant further investigation.

BBC Sport was unable to reach either of the two clubs for comment on Sunday.

Earlier this month, Macedonian club FK Pobeda were banned from European competitions for eight years after being found guilty of deliberately losing a match by governing body Uefa.

[Andy]

How ridiculous, they took the bet and it won so they should pay out. There is nothing suspicious about betting on a FT/HT result and having it win, if the bets were placed by people with no link to the players or clubs involved they will pay out those bets.

I can sort of see the bookmakers point it looks suspicious but you cannot avoid paying out for that reason it is not beyond reasonable doubt. (It doesnt have to be beyond reasonable doubt but i think thats the sort of proof level you should require).

[s0095063]

Seems a bit strange if they have nothing else to go on other than high bet volumes.

Presumably they have lots of statistics on the average amount taken on each market, but it's still a bit iffy to just refuse to pay out when there is no real indication of wrongdoing.