The verdict on Dylan Duffy’s gambling charge is in – and it’s a good one for the Imps.
Dylan was charged with breaching betting rules, a charge which has hung over him for the first part of the season. That has now reached a conclusion, and the official statement on the FA website reads as follow.
“An independent Regulatory Commission has fined and warned Lincoln City’s Dylan Duffy for breaches of The FA’s betting rules. The forward admitted that he placed 30 bets on football matches between 18 August 2023 and 23 April 2024.
“The Regulatory Commission subsequently imposed a £4,000 fine, with £2,000 suspended for 12 months, and a warning. The written reasons for these sanctions can be read in full below.”
I’ve taken some time to digest the written reasons, and it appears that rather than Dylan being responsible for all of the offences, he actually opened an account for his brother to use, who was underage at the time. While Dylan did place the odd bet, he never bet against the Imps, nor on himself to be booked, so there was no aggravated behaviour within his gambling.
The pertinent part of the report is as follows.
“DD (Dylan Duffy) stated he allowed Daniel to open the Paddy Power account in his name because Daniel was under the age of 18 and therefore couldn’t legally gamble. DD confirmed he gave Daniel his passport to enable Daniel to open the Paddy Power account and verify it.
“DD stated he has never used this account and it is solely used by Daniel, and DD was unaware Daniel had placed any football bets through it until being contacted by The FA. DD stated Daniel has lived in Ireland throughout.”
Also, of the bets placed, 30 in total, they were categorised as follows.
24 are Category 1 bets, “Bet placed on any aspect of any football match anywhere in the world, but not involving Participant’s Club competitions”.
Four are Category 2 bets, “Bet placed on Participant’s competition but not involving his Club (including spot bet)”.
Two are Category 3 bets, “Bet placed on own team to win”
It is extremely important to stress that there are just two Category 3 bets, and Danny Duffy and not Dylan placed those bets.
There are several mitigating circumstances here, including the fact Dylan admitted to the charge at the first opportunity and has been fully cooperative throughout the investigation. It’s also important to note Dylan had no knowledge of various bets being placed by his brother in Ireland and betting activity did not undermine the integrity of the game.
This does differ from Bradley Wood’s betting patterns, which directly influenced the outcome of some games (inadvertently). There’s also a big difference between Dylan and Chris Maguire – Chris was a senior professional whereas Dylan is, to some degree, a younger player who acted naively. It feels like there are some parallels between Dylan and Harry Toffolo, who also didn’t get a sporting penalty for his betting charges. However, Toff placed ten times more bets, he did them himself and he did get a suspended ban.
Ultimately, this will be a big weight off Dylan’s shoulders now, and a really important learning point for him this early in his career. I’m relieved for him, as having met him he seems a really genuine lad, who has made a silly but (in the grand scheme of things) trivial mistake. That’s not downplaying the issue at all, but this really is small time compared to the likes of Bradley Wood, and I’m pleased he’s been given a chance to keep his career on track without a playing penalty.
You must be logged in to post a comment.