A Dishonest Footballer In England??

Heavens to Mergatroid! Next thing, you're going to tell me that Mr. Mugabe is not an honorable man. It's ridiculous how some British like to hold themselves above the rest of Europe as though they are immune to problems that affect other countries on the continent. Kind of like...Oh we don't want to get too political here. We see the assclowns from all sides that comment on most political sites. No wonder we elect the hacks we do in this country.

The English press has had a free-for-all over bribery and corruption in the continental leagues but in the words of Malcolm X and Rev. Wright, the chickens have come home to roost. Don't they always? Where else would they go? I want my chickens where I can see them.

The Independent reports that a footballer with a £50,000 gambling debt admitted that he fixed a match in the past two years to satisfy the debt. The unnamed player, who fell victim to Gamlor and is now in rehab, confessed that his bookie promised to release him from the debt if he got himself sent off and had three teammates booked. All the above happened as planned and the player checked himself into rehab as he was "ashamed and full of remorse" like Mark Foley without the booze (booze meaning boy love).

The suggestion that any match has been fixed – or that significant events within it have been rigged – is a nightmare scenario for football's authorities. It is confirmation that football in Britain is not immune to the corruption that has recently blighted other nations – including Italy, Germany and Poland – albeit with personal addiction as a driving force, as opposed to institutional corruption or large-scale criminal syndicates in those cases.

Institutional corruption or large-scale criminal syndicates could never affect football in Britain. Sheeeit, the suggestion that somehow British football is immune to the same factors that cause continental corruption is absurd. "Oh that could never happen here." Guess what? It is. People are fooling themselves if they think it isn't. There's too much money, ego and stupidity in the game these days.

Gambling is a problem with people including athletes the world over. There's no reason British football should be any different. There are players who consider suicide because of gambling addiction just as there are many whose careers and family lives are affected. When young players are getting paid the way professional athletes do in the top leagues, there are going to be issues related to excess including gambling. Just ask Michael Jordan, Michael Owen and Art Schlichter of the late, great Baltimore Colts. Damn you to hell, Elway and Irsay.

Currently the FA allows players to bet on matches in which they have no involvement or could influence. American sports leagues seem to take a hardline stance especially in light of the Tim Donaghy scandal. Leagues outside of the US take a more flexible position such as the FA. People including athletes are going to bet on sports and it seems silly to pretend gambling doesn't exist when we constantly pay attention to point spreads and it generates so much money. However people do need to believe that the results they see are legit. What is the middle ground? Mustafa is going back to the lab until he has an answer.