2004 rugby league betting scandal
- 2004 rugby league betting scandal
2004 saw a scandal in the sport of rugby league involving Great Britain international players Sean Long and Martin Gleeson. Both players were playing for St Helens at the time; the match in question was between Bradford Bulls and St Helens on Easter Monday, April 2004.
St Helens were scheduled to face Huddersfield Giants in the 2004 Challenge Cup Semi-Final. They had been given a demanding draw in the competition and had already knocked out top teams Bradford, Leeds Rhinos and Hull FC in previous rounds. In addition, the Semi-Final was to be played the weekend after the tough Easter period, in which Super League teams are required to play 3 games in a week. As a result, the St Helens squad, having already competed in three more high-intensity matches than all the other Super League teams, were struggling to cope and coach Ian Millward was worried about his players becoming fatigued and losing form heading into the semi-final. To counter this, he rested eleven first choice players for the clash with defending Super League champions Bradford, effectively playing his reserves and accepting certain defeat in that game.
Knowing that St Helens were set to field a weakened side, Long and Gleeson placed bets on Bradford to win. Gleeson bet £1,000 that Bradford would win by a margin greater than eight points, whilst Long placed a bet of similar value on the Bulls' victory.
Bradford won 54-8. Long was one of the players left out of the squad but Gleeson was selected by Millward, and indeed scored the first try.
Both players admitted their guilt and apologised for their actions. An RFL investigation chaired by a panel comprising Judge Peter Charlesworth, Deryck Fox and David Poulter accepted that there was no evidence to suggest Gleeson had attempted to play badly to influence the result, but both players were declared guilty of breaching an RFL by law prohibiting players betting on matches in which their club was involved, regardless of whether or not they were involved in the game.
They were each fined £7,500 and ordered to pay £2,205 costs. Long was handed a three month and Gleeson a four month suspension. A few weeks after receiving the suspension, Gleeson signed for Warrington Wolves for a fee reported at £200,000.
Wikimedia Foundation.
2010.
Look at other dictionaries:
List of rugby league incidents — The following is a listing of all off field incidents that have received media coverage involving footballers from rugby league competitions in Australia, New Zealand and England, particularly the current National Rugby League (NRL) but also the… … Wikipedia
February 2005 in sports — NOTOC 2005 in sports : ← January February March April May June July August September October November December → Events in sports28 February 2005*NCAA basketball: Temple University announces that head men s basketball coach John Chaney will not… … Wikipedia
football — /foot bawl /, n. 1. a game in which two opposing teams of 11 players each defend goals at opposite ends of a field having goal posts at each end, with points being scored chiefly by carrying the ball across the opponent s goal line and by place… … Universalium
Melbourne Storm salary cap breach — The Melbourne Storm salary cap breach was a major breach of the National Rugby League s strictly enforced salary cap by the Melbourne Storm club over a period of five years. The discovery of these breaches In 2010 by the NRL resulted in it… … Wikipedia
List of sporting scandals — This is a list of major sports scandals:*Black Sox Scandal (1919) *Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker s game fixing (1926) *Pete Rose gambling on baseball Dowd Report (1989) *Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays banned from baseball for being doormen in an… … Wikipedia
Sports timeline — This page indexes the individual year in sports pages. Each year is annotated with a significant event as a reference point. NOTOC 2010s – 2000s – 1990s – 1980s – 1970s – 1960s – 1950s – 1940s – 1930s – 1920s – 1910s – 1900s – 1890s – 1880s –… … Wikipedia
List of Australian rules football incidents — The List of Australian rules football incidents is a collection of both on and off field incidents that have received media coverage involving footballers from the Australian Football League.Incidents1980s1980* Essendon Phil Carmen was suspended… … Wikipedia
Mark Waugh — Personal information Full name Mark Edward Waugh AM Born 2 June 1965 (1965 06 02) (age 46) Canterbury, New South Wales, Australia Nickname Junior Batting style Right hand Bowling style … Wikipedia
Martin Gleeson — Gleeson playing for Warrington in 2007 Personal information Born 25 May 1980 (1980 05 25) (age 31) … Wikipedia
Elland Road — Infobox Stadium stadium name = Elland Road nickname = caption = The East Stand façade, bearing the club s name and crest. fullname = Elland Road Stadium location = Elland Road (A643) Beeston Leeds West Yorkshire ENG coordinates =… … Wikipedia
