BRETT TO FIND OUT FATE ON BETTING

DEAN BRETT will attend a disciplinary hearing at Cowdenbeath tonight as he faces up to the prospect of a lengthy ban from football after betting on almost 6,500 matches. The Blue Brazil defender has confessed to the wagers, which included gambling on his own club to lose matches he was playing in. The SFA’s strict rules prohibit players, coaches, club officials and referees in Scotland from betting on football anywhere in the world. A Gambling Commission report on Brett uncovered 2,787 bets apparently placed by the player since season 2011-12, involving 6,369 games. The figures cite 65 bets on Cowdenbeath matches, including eight games when it is claimed he placed money on the Fife club to lose. Five of those were when he was in action for the team, including a 5-1 loss to Rangers in a Scottish Cup tie in 2016 when he actually scored. The betting issue first came to light after the 24-year-old was investigated by the SFA for making allegedly homophobic comments on social media. He was offered a four-match ban for that offence but, with that still to be resolved, is now facing up to the prospect of even stiffer sanctions and even the possibility of being sacked by Cowdenbeath. Yesterday, Brett admitted to a gambling problem and admitted he used betting to numb the pain of personal tragedy after partner Gemma Porteous (22) died of cancer in January 2015, four months after prematurely born daughter Mollie passed away. ‘It’s a problem I’ve had since I was younger and it got to the stage where I didn’t care what I was doing,’ he said. ‘I’ve admitted to the club I’ve got a gambling problem. ‘I don’t have a leg to stand on. I hope I get lucky and they forgive me.’