Harry Redknapp claims his players bet on outcome of match

Harry Redknapp says he was unaware at the time that his players were betting on the outcome of the game and denies any wrongdoing.

HARRY Redknapp has claimed players at a team he managed bet on the result of one of their games.

Gambling on football by current professional players is prohibited by the Football Association, and a worldwide ban on doing so has been in force since 2014.

Redknapp says he was unaware at the time that his players were betting on the outcome of the game and denies any wrongdoing.

Undercover reporters from the Daily Telegraph filmed Redknapp without his knowledge as part of an investigation into British football.

The newspaper does not identify the match or the players in question, or the year in which the game occurred.

Redknapp’s team were odds against to win the fixture but secured a comfortable victory, the paper said.

Redknapp is shown saying in the video that the opposition “murdered us early on”, and adding: “At half-time I took (a player) off and put, erm, (another player on) and they’re all looking at me, all the lads, ’cause I didn’t know they’d had a bet, ’cause they was (sic) all choked, they’d all had a spread bet and everything.”

The 69-year-old has managed a host of clubs during his long career, starting at Bournemouth and taking in stints at West Ham, Tottenham, QPR, Portsmouth and Southampton.

His last role was a short spell in charge of Jordan’s national team earlier this year.

The Daily Telegraph said Redknapp met with undercover reporters, who were representing a fictitious Far East firm, and football agents Dax Price and Pino Pagliara at a London private members’ club.

When contacted later by the newspaper, and told that betting by players was against the rules, Redknapp reportedly replied: “Oh would it? Oh, okay. But not at that time I don’t think it was, was it? They weren’t betting on the other team, they were having a bet on their own team.”

Asked about his remarks about the players gambling on the game, the Telegraph claims he told the newspaper: “Unbeknownst to me. No, not a spread bet. It wasn’t a spread bet. I think they had a bet on the game, but it wasn’t, that was nothing to do with me … after the game I’d heard the rumour the lads had had a bet that day…I’m not in control of whether they go and have a bet or not.”

There is no suggestion Redknapp may have broken the law. It is not known if he told the FA about the gambling.

Mr Price is quoted during the filmed conversation as saying a player, who is not identified, had contacted him about the match in question and urged him to put money on a victory for Redknapp’s team.

Mr Price reportedly said the player from Redknapp’s club “phoned me and said remortgage your house ’cause the odds were mental, they were 5/2 at the time”.

Mr Price, according to the Telegraph, also claimed players on the losing team had bet on Redknapp’s side winning. news.sky.com