EFL star Lewis Macari has been charged by the Football Association with violating betting rules over a near three-year period.
Macari, a defender for League Two side Notts County, is alleged to have placed 354 wagers with UK betting sites on football matches between February 2020 and December 2022.
The charges relate to his time during the youth system at Stoke City and a loan spell with League of Ireland outfit Dundalk.
The 23-year-old has until July 18 to respond to the indictments. A statement from the FA read: “Lewis Macari of Notts County FC has been charged with breaching The FA’s betting rules.
“It’s alleged that the player breached FA Rule E1(b) 354 times by placing bets on football matches between 25 February 2020 and 4 December 202: Lewis Macari has until 18 July to provide a response.”
Notts County said: “We will be supporting Lewis and his representatives throughout the investigation process and will be making no further comment at this stage.”
Can Footballers Bet On Football?
No. Quite simply, all forms of betting on football is outlawed by the FA for all players, managers, coaches, club staff, directors and licensed agents involved in all levels of the English game.
This includes the top-flight Premier League all the way down to the non-league Northern, Southern and Isthmian divisions.
That hasn’t stopped plenty of high-profile players from doing it anyways though, with a number of huge scandals sending shockwaves through the game in recent years.
Most notably, former Brentford striker Ivan Toney placed 13 bets with sports betting apps on his own club to lose.
Other EFL players to have been slapped with similar charges this month include former Cheltenham and Shrewsbury striker Ryan Bowman, banned for three-and-a-half years by the FA after admitting to placing over 6,000 bets between June 2022 and September 2023.
Macari’s Grandfather, Manchester United Legend Lou Also Breached Betting Rules
Macari’s grandfather Lou, who made over 400 appearances for Manchester United during the 1970s and 1980s, was also embroiled in a similar scandal back in the day.
While manager of Swindon Town in the late 1980s, Lou Macari was fined £1,000 after it was revealed he had bet on his own team to lose an FA Cup match against Newcastle.
Joe Lyons is a betting industry writer for GamblingIndustryNews with years of experience on reputable gambling websites. Joe specialises in long form content in the world of sports betting and gambling. Joe is recognised as an expert in sports fields such as horse racing, soccer, NFL and NBA.
