Reserve goalie resigns in ‘piegate’ row
● FA to launch probe after betting row erupts over incident in cup clash with Arsenal
The reserve goalkeeper of an English lower league side resigned after eating a pie in the team’s dugout during Monday’s FA Cup final loss to Arsenal.
A bookmaker had offered odds of 8-1 that the Sutton United keeper, Wayne Shaw would eat a pie on camera. Mr Shaw, who said he was aware of the betting promotion prior to the match, played the incident down as “a bit of fun”.
The Gambling Commission confirmed it was looking into whether there was any “irregularity in the betting market and establishing whether the operator has met its licence requirement to conduct its business with integrity”.
Mr Shaw was shown on television tucking into the snack towards the end of the 2-0 loss before admitting he was aware that bookies were offering odds on him to do so.
“Wayne has offered his resignation to the chairman,” the club’s manager Paul Doswell said.
Sutton United reserve goalkeeper Wayne Shaw has agreed to resign from the club after eating a pie in the dugout during Monday’s FA Cup defeat by Arsenal.
A betting row erupted as a result of the incident and manager Paul Doswell confirmed Shaw’s departure yesterday afternoon.
Shaw was shown on television tucking into the snack towards the end of the 2-0 loss before admitting after the game he was aware that a bookmaker was offering odds on him to do so.
“Wayne has offered his resignation to the chairman this afternoon and that has been accepted. It’s a very sad end to what was a very good story,” Doswell told Sky News.
Both the Football Association and the Gambling Commission announced yesterday that they would carry out independent investigations into the publicity stunt.
Sun Bets tweeted after the game that they had paid out a “five-figure sum” on a bet that 46-year-old Shaw would be shown eating a pie.
The goalkeeper, who also worked as a coach for the club, said after the game he “would give them a bit of banter”.
Doswell confirmed both investigating bodies had been in touch with the club and said Shaw had made a “very genuine mistake” after being a big part of the media build-up to the cup-tie.
“Of course we’ve been contacted by the FA, the betting commission, and it’s been a very sobering morning,” he said. “At the moment it’s early days and it’s by way of e-mails and other bits and pieces but unfortunately it’s worldwide news this morning
“It’s taken the gloss off my players’ performance and gone on to something it shouldn’t have gone on to. It was an honest error but one that’s had quite sad ramifications. Wayne’s been swept along with what’s happened in this last three or four weeks. Since the camera got him in the Leeds United game he’s gone into another world in terms of what he’s used to.
“I think he’s been ill-advised at times and he’s just made a very genuine mistake. If you knew him, he’s such a lovely, lovely man. His judgment wasn’t great last night and he’s obviously paid the price for that.”
Doswell went on to reveal Shaw was in tears yesterday morning following the fall-out of Monday night’s game and said he should have sought advice from senior figures at Sutton before making any decisions over the pie-eating.
“He’s absolutely devastated – tears down the phone this afternoon. There’s no joy and nothing good coming out of this particularly situation for him,” the manager said. “A situation that had been such good fun in virtually every aspect until what happened last night.
“He’s done a fantastic job for the football club, but unfortunately if any of us put ourselves into Wayne’s position last night then you make your position pretty much untenable. I’d have advised him very, very differently. Unfortunately he chose not to speak to myself or the chairman or anyone about what was happening and he’s put himself in a very invidious position.”
The FA announced it will launch an inquiry to determine whether Shaw breached its gambling regulations.
There could also be fall-out for the bookmakers, with the Gambling Commission confirming its own investigation into the incident to decide whether Sun Bets had breached its licence requirement by offering such a bet in the first instance.