Everton centre-back Yerry Mina has been charged with breaching the Football Association’s betting rules.
The governing body had been investigating the £22.5million-rated defender’s appearance in promotion material for a Colombian-based site since May, after the FC Barcelona outcast featured in a video endorsing the company.
Players and club figures aged over 25-years-old are allowed to take part in material advertising betting companies, but on the provision that the material is undertaken as part of a club’s sponsorship – such as our lucrative deal with shirt sponsor Sportpesa.
Players acting individually, on the other hand, are denied the chance to carry out work advertising a betting company, after the FA moved to further reduce the risk of match-fixing in the English game or footballers bringing the sport into disrepute via spot-betting scandals.
Mina distanced himself from the company which he helped advertise shortly after the video emerged, while the footage itself was swiftly taken offline.
However, the FA have taken the decision to charge the £120,000-a-week centre-back with breaching their betting rules, with the punishment of their verdict yet to be announced as they wait to hear whether Mina has accepted their judgment.
A statement issued by the Football Association read: “It is alleged that the defender breached FA Rule E8 [3] by participating in an advertisement for betting activity, which he is prohibited from engaging in.
“He has until Friday [26/07/2019] to provide a response.”
Mina had been given a greater grace period to return to Finch Farm for pre-season training due to his involvement in this summer’s Copa America, but is understood to have returned to the club earlier this week.
The towering 6 ft 3 centre-back is expected to play a more significant role for Marco Silva in the upcoming season following Kurt Zouma’s return to Chelsea, but may now leave the boss in an urgent rush to acquire another centre-back if the FA decide to issue the 24-year-old with a ban from football activities rather than a fine.
Former Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge was recently issued a six-week ban from playing football by an independent regulatory commission, after the Football Association found the free agent guilty of breaching their betting rules.
The FA argued the forward, who was released at the end of the 2018/19 campaign, had acted with a “cynical determination” to help others benefit by betting and insisted that any punishment smaller than a six-month suspension “would wholly fail to reflect the gravity of the case”.
Mina would be unlikely to receive a similar verdict by the FA given his involvement in promotional material did not reflect insider trading.
Here’s what these Everton fans have had to say after the FA found Mina guilty of breaching their betting regulations…
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