HUDDERSFIELD TOWN star Kian Harratt has been suspended for four months after placing 484 bets on football over a three year period.
He has been handed a £3,200 fine for the rule breaches – which include betting on his OWN team.
The ban relates to a series of betting breaches that run from June 2020 to June 2023.
As part of the FA hearing which decided on the length of the ban, Harratt admitted to betting on matches he was involved in.
In his statement, Harratt said: “I am also cognisant of the fact that some of the bets that I have placed are more problematic than others, in particular those involving my own team.
“While the vast majority of the bets I have placed on football do not involve my own team, I recognise the issues that placing bets
involving my own team can cause.”
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The forward went on to admit that he had bet on his team to lose on multiple occasions, saying: “Of the 44 bets of this nature that I placed, 36 involved Huddersfield.
“I was not in the matchday squad for any of the fixtures involving Huddersfield that I bet on, as I was either on loan or training with the reserves at that time.
“Nine of the 36 bets involving Huddersfield included selections for Huddersfield to lose. While, as explained above, I was not in the squad for these fixtures, I accept that these are perhaps the most serious of the bets on football that I have placed.
“As is demonstrated by the spontaneous nature of the bets that I placed, I did not plan or give much thought to the teams that I included.
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“Looking back, I find it difficult to explain how or why I would have selected certain teams or fixtures to bet on.
“In particular, I am unable to explain why I would have placed bets against my own team, when it is clear to me now that this is something that footballers should not do.”
Harratt explained to the FA he began gambling when he opened an online betting account on his 18th birthday.
The striker initially limited his betting to horse-racing but explained that this extended to football soon after.
He told the FA: “Unfortunately, as my betting history included in the FA Charge Letter shows, once I started to place bets on football, I found myself unable to stop, despite numerous attempts to do so.”
“I can now see that the number of bets that I placed directly corresponds with the amount of time that I spent on the pitch.
“I found myself continually trying to replicate the feeling of playing
regular first team football and when such opportunities were not forthcoming, my gambling activity increased in order to get an adrenaline rush or the same ‘buzz’ I got from playing.”
He went on to confirm that all the bets he placed were in his own name, and he made no attempts to conceal his identity when gambling.
That’s despite Harratt admitting: “I readily accept that I received training and education sessions which included sections on gambling as an academy player and I was aware that the rules say that footballers cannot bet on football.”
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Huddersfield released a statement in response to the ban saying: “Kian immediately admitted the offences upon being charged and has fully cooperated with the subsequent FA and club investigations.
“The club will now support Kian, who is currently recovering from hamstring surgery, through the next four months ahead of his return to football activity.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
