FA wants bet companies to withdraw yellow card markets to cub gambling

In light of mounting worries about match-fixing, the FA is asking gambling companies to stop offering wagers on yellow cards and other in-game betting.

The FA are looking into betting trends surrounding Lucas Paqueta of West Ham's three Premier League bookings this season.

This is the FA's fourth highly publicised inquiry regarding betting on yellow cards in the last five years.

Recent reports have suggested that the FA are asking betting companies to remove the yellow card market from their betting option.

FA wants betting restrictions for bet companies

Mail Sport reported that the FA officials have discussed setting restrictions on some of the bets provided in certain competitions with bookies and the government, a move that is expected to receive support from the Premier League.

Several recurring incidents related to players placing a bet on themselves have occurred in the Premier League in recent years.

Both Oxford defender Ciaran Brown and Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka's dubious bookings in Premier League and FA Cup games over the previous 18 months were looked at, but no action was taken.

Bradley Wood of Lincoln City was given a six-year suspension by the FA in 2018 after the FA found him guilty of intentionally receiving two bookings in two different games while the team was advancing to the FA Cup quarter-finals in an effort to win £10,000 in pre-arranged bets.

Also, Kynan Isac, a former Reading defender, received an extraordinary suspension from football last year of almost 12 years for purposefully receiving a booking during a Stratford Town-Shrewsbury FA Cup match in order to facilitate a bet.

The FA are worried that yellow card markets, in particular, are susceptible to manipulation by football players.

They are considering imposing limitations on other speciality wagers, such as how many cards, corners, and penalties the referees will award during a particular match.

The Gambling Commission would need to become involved in a formal ban on such markets, while the FA is also pursuing the option of trying to convince specific gambling companies to stop offering them.