Players band following betting scandle

[mthead]

BBC SPORT | Football | League Two | Four players banned over betting

Four professional footballers have been banned from playing for up to a year and fined for breaching betting rules.

The Football Association investigation centred on Accrington Stanley's League Two game against Bury in May 2008.

Chester's Jay Harris, who was then at Accrington, has been banned for a year and fined £5,000 over that FA charge.

His then team-mates Robert Williams and David Mannix have been banned for eight months and 10 months and ex-Bury player Andrew Mangan banned for five months.

The case against another Accrington player, Peter Cavanagh, will be heard at a later date.

Williams, who remains at Accrington, was fined £3,500 with Mannix, who is now at Chester, given a £4,000 fine and Mangan, who is now at Forest Green Rovers, £2,000.

The five players were all charged with betting on a victory for Bury in the game, which was Accrington's last game of the 2007/2008 season.

Some bookmakers stopped taking bets on the match after noticing unusual betting activity.

In addition, Harris was fined £500 for betting on at least one other match after he had moved to Chester.

Nicholas Stewart QC, chairman of the independent FA regulatory commission, which carried out the investigation, said in a statement: "The regulatory commission have serious concerns that the outcome of the match may have been fixed, although none of the players were charged with these offences.

"The betting offence committed against Mr Harris when he was a Chester City player merits a less severe penalty but was a clear breach of The FA rule E8(a) committed after he had already been interviewed and advised of likely charges in relation to the Accrington v Bury matter under the same rule."

Under FA rules, players, managers or coaching staff are prohibited from betting on the result or progress of any match or competition in which they are participating or have any direct or indirect influence over.