Without fans knowing after ruling at confidential hearing
You need to get your agent on to the club and they need to pay you up. Only thing you can do. Clear all your debt. And if you are left with nothing then so be it. You need to clear your feet.”
The SFA confirmed the player had been given the ban.
The body said that under its rules, some hearings could be held in private.
Supporting medical evidence would usually by required to satisfy its threshold, the spokesman added.
He said: “Parties can request confidential ity if there is a material risk to them or their wellbeing.”
Clubs and the the union for footballers, the Professional Footba l lers’ Associat ion Scotland, can request it on behalf of the players. In this case, PFAS asked for secrecy around the case.
Fraser Wishart, of PFAS said: “Al l our interactions with members a re completely confidential.
“We provide a safe place for players to come forward to.”
Therapist Steve Pope said the SFA was “streets ahead” of other football authorities on how they treat footballers with gambling problems.
The counsellor, who has worked with a number of international players with crippling betting addictions, said: “The SFA should be congratulated on a lot of their initiatives. It is streets ahead of other football bodies.
“Private hearings would be given to players to encourage them to be honest about the extent of their problems. You have players in a fragile state.
“There are studies that show that problem gamblers are more at risk from self-harm than people with drink or drug problems.
“The football association in England should look to adopt the SFA’s progressive stance on this.”
Last year, it was revealed gambling addicts were 15 times more likely to take their own life than non-gamblers.
The study prompted calls for swifter action by the government to tackle betting addiction.
Swedish academics at Lund University monitored more than 2000 people with gambl ing disorders.
It found a “significant” elevated risk of suicide among participants compared with the general population over an 11- year period.
The study found that suicide rates increased 19-fold among men between the ages of 20 and 49 if they had a gambling problem and by 15 times among men and women of all ages.
The authors said their work indicated gambling disorders were associated with far higher than average rates of suicide.
Campaigners said that if the same results were applied to the UK, the Swedish study would indicate about 550 suicides a year in which gambling played a part.
That’s more than 10 a week. A string of high-profile players have fallen foul of rules on betting in recent years and had their punishments made public by the
SFA. Players including former Manchester City and Newcastle player Joey Barton, who played for Rangers at the time, and Rangers midfielder Ian Black were given bans,
SFA disciplinary rules prohibit players, coaches, club officials and referees in Scotland from betting on football anywhere in the world.
Last week, we told how Hamilton Accies boss Brian Rice had bet on thousands of matches while in the grip of his addiction, including betting on the Iranian U19 women’s football team.