The Longshot: Footie wagers by those involved in game are  unacceptable

FORMER Ireland international Alan Quinn, who is first-team coach at Shelbourne is going to appeal the four-month ban from all football activity imposed on him for breaching FAI rules on betting.

An FAI statement on the matter said “breaches are connected to 18 League of Ireland games between August 5, 2022 and May 5, 2023”.

Quinn claims to have a betting addiction and is not happy with the support he has received from the League of Ireland club.

In a statement this week he said: “I feel it necessary to respond to the reports of my suspension from football released by the FAI last Saturday.

“In the first instance, I accept fully that I breached the gambling regulations. This was a serious error of judgment on my part which I regret hugely.

“However, I think context is required here. First, I have suffered from gambling addiction in the past and while I now have the problem under some control, like any addiction, there are times when my judgment is impaired. Second, all the bets made were in losing accumulators and no profit was made. Third, I did not and would never bet on my team to lose a match. Fourth, although 18 matches were involved, there were only nine bets made.

“I understand that no bets should have been made and I accept fully that a suspension is warranted. My belief is that the focus in this and related instances should be less on excessive punishment and more towards education and rehabilitation.

“I would like to thank Shelbourne manager Damien Duff for his support but I am bitterly disappointed in the lack of assistance and guidance from the ownership of the club.

“As soon as the accusation was made and I was suspended by the club, I was left to fend for myself. I was forced to attend disciplinary hearings without any presence or support from the club.

“I naively assumed that my standing within the club would have brought a little more loyalty but this clearly wasn’t the case.

“Football is my life and livelihood and it is all I have ever known. I am finding it very difficult to mentally process that I will have absolutely no involvement in football at all, even as a spectator, for such a long period of time.”

Brentford’s Ivan Toney was banned from all football activity for eight months for breaching FA betting rules in May.

The 27-year-old won’t be back on the pitch now until the start of 2024.

The English striker’s misconduct was far more extensive than Quinn’s. Of the 232 bets he made, 126 were on matches in a competition the team Toney was playing for at the time were eligible in during that season and 29 of those bets involved a club Toney was representing.

He bet on his own team to win 16 times in 15 different matches of which he played in 11.

He also made 13 bets on his own team to lose seven matches in 2017 and 2018 although he didn’t play in these.

Brentford unveiled their new kit this week. Their shirt sponsors remain South African bookies Hollywoodbets.

Aston Villa, Everton, Bournemouth, Burnley, Fulham and West Ham all have contracts in place with betting firms for the coming season.

The Villa chief executive Christian Purslow has said: “The commercial reality is that to teams outside the top six, such sponsors offer clubs twice as much financially as non-gambling companies.”

English soccer’s top-flight clubs will no longer be allowed to have gambling brands on the front of their shirts from the 2026/27 season.

Limerick to the four as Tribe plan revenge mission

THE first of what I hope to be four visits to Croke Park this month begins on Saturday evening.

Marrying into west Limerick means I’ve had a passenger-seat view of the team’s glory days.

A poor start against Kilkenny in the 2019 semi-final and a dodgy decision late on that day is probably the only reason they don’t already have five-in-a-row.

Four on the trot is what they are aiming for this year, although on 11 titles at the moment, they are well off the big three in the roll of honour (Kilkenny 36, Cork 30, Tipp 28).

They are 10/11 to add a 12th title this year, which has drifted from 4/6 at the beginning of the season as the champs have not exactly been free-flowing so far, only hitting fifth gear in patches. A few big names are struggling for form while others have been impacted by injury.

Captain Declan Hannon is injured for this game, while fellow defender Sean Finn is out for the year. Cian Lynch has been reduced to cameos and he played no part in the Munster final win over the Banner.

Seamus Flanagan and Tom Morrissey have been in stellar form, and it does seem when some don’t turn up, others do, which is a sign of a great team, which John Kiely’s side assuredly are. Both Galway and Kilkenny pushed them all the way in the latter stages last year and neighbours Clare have put them to the pin of their collar this summer and last. Galway are 5/1 to lift Liam and 11/4 to win on Saturday evening. Hannon’s absence especially should give Henry Shefflin’s side some hope.

They did the necessary against Tipp the last day on Shannonside, but Tipp looked a shadow of the team they were in the Munster opener against Clare, with their puck-out in particular malfunctioning. Clare entered their semi with Kilkenny as favourites last year, having lost the Munster final on penalties. That was a devastating loss for Clare because it would have been the first time that they lifted the Munster SHC title since 1998. They have only won the competition six times and again they let it slip in the decider this year at the Gaelic Grounds, losing by a point having beaten Limerick in the round-robin.

They are favourites again this time around on Sunday against the Cats. Clare and Kilkenny have met eight times in the Championship with Kilkenny leading the way with six wins, but Brian Lohan’s side are 5/6 to gain revenge on last year and possibly have another crack at their southern neighbours.

It’s 5/1 they lift Liam a decade after their dramatic win over Cork following a replay. Kilkenny are 4/1 to lift a 37th title.

All Blacks favoured to retain title

THE Southern Hemisphere’s Rugby Championship kicks off this Saturday with New Zealand 4/5 favourites to retain their title ahead of South Africa at 9/4, Australia, 13/2 and Argentina, 25/1.

Due to the Rugby World Cup later this year, this time each team will face the other only once in order to give teams more time to prepare ahead of the trip to France.

New Zealand play in Argentina for their opener tomorrow evening but before that the Springboks host Australia tomorrow afternoon, with both fixtures on at good times for viewing over here.

In round two South Africa travel to New Zealand which is likely to decide who will be champions.

Australia should not be written off given their improvement in recent years, and with Eddie Jones now at the helm.

Teams might play weakened teams on occasion to give game time to fringe players, which may lead to some unexpected results as coaching teams figure out who they want to bring to Europe this autumn.

South Africa will hand a debut to former Ireland international lock (he played for us five times, but not since the 2019 World Cup) and Munster man Jean Kleyn, while fly-half Manie Libbok and flanker Marco van Staden make their first starts against Australia in their Rugby opener in Pretoria on Saturday.

Meanwhile, in the U20 Championship in South Africa, Ireland are 9/4 to win the tournament following their final high-scoring group game against Fiji.

They will now play South Africa on Sunday afternoon, while 8/13 favourites France play England, who Ireland drew with in their opener.

The Bet

DECLAN Hannon’s absence in the centre of the Limerick defence is a bit concerning for the men chasing a fourth title, so we’ll take them on and go for a Galway-Clare final at odds of just over 5/1