Paul Scholes charged by FA for allegedly breaching betting rules 

Paul Scholes is believed to have placed 140 bets - Paul Scholes is believed to have placed 140 bets  
Paul Scholes is believed to have placed 140 bets  Credit: PA

Paul Scholes has been charged by the Football Association with breaching betting rules while co-owner at Salford City.

Investigators believe the former Manchester United and England midfielder placed 140 bets on matches between August 2015 and January this year.

Charges against Scholes, who could face a fine and potential ban, come just four weeks after he walked out as manager of Oldham following less than two months in charge.

During the 2014 World Cup Scholes worked as a Paddy Power tipster. He currently works as a pundit for BT Sport. Neither Scholes or the broadcaster responded to requests for comment last night.

The FA said in a statement: "Paul Scholes has been charged with misconduct in relation to The FA’s Betting Rules. It is alleged he placed 140 bets on football matches, contrary to FA Rule E8, between 17 August 2015 and 12 January 2019.  He has until 26 April 2019 to respond to the charge."

Scholes was briefly joint caretaker manager of Salford, with Phil Neville, in 2015, two years after his retirement as a player, but the Oldham job was his first full foray into management.

He resigned as a Salford director in February to join Oldham but retains a 10-percent stake in the non-league club.

Ex-United quintet Gary and Phil Neville, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt agreed to take over the club in March 2014 with their business partner Peter Lim. At the time, Salford were third in Division One North of the Northern Premier League, six points behind leaders Darlington 1883 with two games in hand. After successive promotions, the club is now pushing for the National League title.

The FA has strict rules precluding those being involved in the game betting on outcomes, regardless of whether teams they are directly involved with are competing in the associated matches.

Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge faced similar charges in November 2018 and faces a hearing at the end of this month. The FA has not yet released details as yet as to what specifically prompted the Sturridge charge.Sturridge denied personally betting on football in a statement released by Liverpool, which read: "Daniel has given his full and unequivocal cooperation throughout this process and has assured the club he will continue to do so."

Joey Barton was found to have breached these gambling rules in 2017, and was subsequently banned for 18 months from competing in the sport at any level. Barton went on to reveal that he had indeed made 30 bets that included clubs that he was involved with at the time.

Aside from 11 top-flight titles, the midfielder won the Champions League twice with United. He made a total of 499 appearances in the Premier League, scoring 100 goals. Scholes also scored 14 times for England, winning 66 international caps.

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