Stanley in action against Bury

A BOOKMAKER has said that Accrington Stanley's defeat at home to Bury "stinks to high heaven" after refusing to pay out on bets waged on the match.

And now the Gambling Commission has started its own investigation into the game after concerns were raised about a flood of bets placed on Bury to win.

The Football Association has already started an inquiry, which has been backed by the Football League, into Stanley's 2-0 defeat home defeat on Saturday.

A spokesman for the Gambling Commission said: "We will consider the concerns being raised about any issue brought to our attention in order to see what, if any, further action is required.

"Rest assured that when concerns are raised with us we follow up and take action as appropriate. "

The commission is able to levy unlimited fines and withdraw gambling licences as well as suspend and void bets.

Several betting firms closed their book on the League Two game in the run-up to kick-off and the Football League changed the match officials in a bid to maintain the integrity of the game.

David Stevens of Coral said the firm stopped taking bets after taking "an unusual amount of money for a game of that magnitude".

Now bookmaker Paddy Power has called for an in depth investigation, a call which has been backed by the club itself.

Paddy Power, which runs the Irish bookmakers, said: "It was pretty smelly, the way the betting went on this particular match on the Thursday and Friday.

"Obviously, it was a game that didn't mean a huge amount in the grand scheme of things but it really was a very popular match for punters, all one-way traffic with everyone backing Bury.

"The key thing really was that almost all the bets were originating from Liverpool, which made our ears prick up and really really take notice.

"But if, and it's a big if, there's been any cheating involved it's got to be stamped out and you have to make a point. It's like walking into a shop and taking money out of the till.

"At the moment it is impossible to say if there was anything wrong unless somebody dribbled down the pitch and kicked it in their own goal or something like that.

"But the pattern of betting stinks to high heaven to be honest."

Accrington Stanley chairman Eric Whalley said: "As far as I'm concerned, they (the Football League) have to get in touch with me if there is going to be any investigation.

"Unless they can bring names forward, we, as a club, can do nothing.

"I've spoken to the management side and they are adamant that they have nothing to hide."

Earlier he said that if any member of staff at the club has done anything wrong they would be "out of the door quicker than Jack Flash."

Stanley's assistant manager Jimmy Bell said: "We would welcome any investigation and we actually feel there should be an investigation.

"But they won't find anything untoward at Accrington Stanley, because we approached the game the same way we do every week - and that's to win.

"They will find no blame attached to the club whatsoever.

"We should have beaten Bury. We had 10 shots on target, and eight shots off, while they had just three."

The FA has pledged to "look very closely" at the game after "an unusual amount of money" was placed.

A spokesman for BetFred, which originally raised concerns to the FA, said: "The matter is being investigated by the FA and we are happy to provide them with all the information they request."

4:52pm Wednesday 7th May 2008

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