Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka’s yellow card picked up in the 4-1 away win over Leeds United on December 18 is being investigated amid suspicions of a betting scandal.
A six-month investigation has been conducted by the FA and referred to the National Crime Agency with there being a risk of serious corruption and potential criminality.
Daily Mail reports that the FA’s inquiry began after they were alerted to suspicious patterns of betting relating to Xhaka’s yellow card in the December fixture.
The report claims that there is no wrongdoing on the part of Xhaka nor any other Arsenal players.
The yellow card offence occurred when referee Andre Marriner booked Xhaka in the 86th minute for time-wasting.
Xhaka stands over the ball in his own half, taking his time over taking a free-kick for Arsenal.
A pay-out of £250,000 was earned on the betting exchange, which allows users to place bets with other users.
The suspicious bet was reported by leading bookmakers to the FA and it far exceeds what is usually wagered for bets involving yellow cards.
The odds on Xhaka picking up a yellow card were also dramatically higher in the last 10 minutes of the game than prior to kick-off.
Xhaka has a well-known poor disclipany record for Arsenal, having picked up 68 yellow cards and 5 red cards during his time at the Emirates Stadium.
The FA have not opened any investigation into Xhaka’s conduct but are understood to have passed on the information they have gathered to the National Crime Agency. The 29-year-old has a poor disciplinary record for Arsenal, being booked 10 times and sent off twice last season. Xhaka has been booked or sent off in more than a quarter of his matches for the club.
Proven cases of spot-fixing are rare in this country, although Lincoln City defender Bradley Wood was banned for six years in 2018 after being found guilty of deliberately getting booked twice during their run to the FA Cup quarter-finals the previous season.
Texts revealed Wood hatched a plan with seven friends. Plotters stood to win £10,000 for two different bets, so the money staked would have been a few thousand pounds, far less than in the Arsenal match.
The FA declined to comment.
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