Revealing illegal betting tips to a friend: WhatsApp chat burdens footballer Trippier
The English footballer Kieran Trippier is currently making headlines in the international press. The 30-year-old full-back is said to have tipped a friend in 2019 to place bets on his transfer from Tottenham Hotspur to Atlético Madrid. As the British newspaper The Sun reported yesterday, a chat history has emerged which reinforces this allegation.
On December 22, the English Football Association (FA) announced that Trippier had been suspended for four weeks and fined GBP 70,000 for four rule violations.
In its report, the FA refers to the “FA Rule E8 (1) (b)”. According to the rule, footballers are prohibited from passing on inside information from football to third parties if this has not yet been officially published. In Trippier's case, the footballer had confirmed his move to Atlético Madrid to a friend, although the public had not yet been informed. At that time, betting on the transfer was still possible with bookmakers.
According to British media, Trippier appealed against the FA's sentence. Talks about his transfer to Atlético Madrid were merely “banter”. He himself did not place any bets on his transfer and did not benefit from his friends' bets.
According to the FA, chat history leaves no room for doubt
The WhatsApp chat history that has now emerged shows, however, that Trippier made it very clear to his friend that he could place bets on the transfer without worry. The Sun has published the corresponding screenshot of the conversation. There it reads:
Freund: “So I can count on you to go there?”
Trippier: [four laughing emojis] Yeah, buddy
Friend: 100% trips?
Trippier: Yeah, buddy
Friend: [tense emoji]
Trippier: Don't blame me if it goes wrong. It shouldn't, but I'm just saying it.
Friend: Of course not, don't be silly, I'm just kidding.
Trippier: Then bet me if you want [laughing emoji]
The FA had ruled that this conversation was not a “banter”. In fact, after the chat, Trippier's friend placed several bets between £ 25 and £ 60 on the transfer. The odds at that time would have been 5.0.
Shortly before the transfer was confirmed, two more of his friends would also have placed corresponding bets.
While Trippier is clearly guilty of the aforementioned violation of the rules in the eyes of the FA, it remains unclear whether the footballer is actually banned for ten weeks.
Trippiers Club Atlético Madrid announced on Saturday that FIFA had lifted the ban. However, the FA has not yet commented on this.