The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Goalie eats meat pie in betting stunt, resigns
A BACKUP goalkeeper paid the price for eating a meat pie during his team's landmark game against Arsenal, resigning from Sutton United as authorities launched investigations into the apparent betting stunt.
A British newspaper’s betting company, which sponsored Sutton United for Monday's FA Cup game, had 8-1 odds that overweight reserve goalkeeper Wayne Shaw would eat a meat pie.
After Sutton used all of its substitutions and there was no chance Shaw would appear in the 2-0 loss to Arsenal, he munched on the pie while sitting on the bench. "Wayne has offered his resignation to the chairman this afternoon and that has been accepted," Sutton manager Paul Doswell told Sky News. "It's a very sad end to what was a very good story."
The footage of Shaw eating was broadcast on the BBC. "I thought I would give them (the betting company) a bit of banter and let's do it," Shaw told British media.
But the stunt caught the attention of the body that regulates commercial gambling in Britain and the English Football Association, who are investigating the incident. It soured the biggest match in non-league Sutton's 118-year history, and the south London club acted quickly against Shaw.
"Wayne has become this global superstar on the back of being 23 stone (322 pounds)," Doswell said. "He's made that a chance to make some more media coverage off the back of it. I don't think it shows us in the best light."
English FA rules prohibit players from betting on any 'occurrence' in a match, although this incident did not take place on the field. There is no indication Shaw financially benefited himself.
Richard Watson, the Gambling Commission's enforcement and intelligence director, said it was investigating the incident because 'integrity in sport is not a joke.' "As part of that we'll be looking into any irregularity in the betting market and establishing whether the operator has met its license requirement to conduct its business with integrity," Watson said.
Arsenal scrape through
On the plastic patch at tiny Gander Green Lane stadium, the gulf in class between teams separated by 105 places in the English soccer pyramid but pitted against each other in the FA Cup was not always apparent. Arsenal wasn't simply allowed to stroll into the quarterfinals by its fifth-tier hosts playing the biggest game in their 118year history. Arsenal took 26 minutes to break through the dogged resistance, and then winning only 2-0 on Monday.
“If you are 2-0 down you don't want to get really hurt,'' Sutton manager Paul Doswell said. “The players should feel very proud. The problem in sport is when you have lost, you feel disappointed but they put this club on a worldwide map.''
If global viewers tuned in for a cup giant-killing they didn't get it, but neither did they witness a rough humiliation for the south London side.
Apart from picking the ball out of his net twice, Sutton goalkeeper Ross Worner, a part-time picture framer for a sports memorabilia company who supports Arsenal, had few saves to make. Worner was beaten only by Lucas Perez, a 20 million-euro signing last year, and Theo Walcott, who turned the ball in from Nacho Monreal's cross 10 minutes into the second half for his 100th Arsenal goal. Far from being in awe of a side of millionaire international players who arrived with personal bodyguards, Sutton constantly harried in the pursuit of a goal, and seized on misplaced passes by Arsenal players on an unfamiliar surface in front of 5,000 mostly standing fans.