Football players’ lives can be luxurious with lots of money, tremendous villas, supercars, and flashy parties. However, many off-field issues can hinder their glory path. One of them is gambling and this has made many famous footballers face countless troubles.
Gambling, casino, football betting are things that have a strong appeal to millions of players around the planet. You can find countless other games at Ku Casino. If you are lucky or you are a good player, you can earn some money from them. But ironically, the “god of luck” also rarely knocks on the door and it’s hard to beat the bookies.
Today, we will name 10 footballers who had problems with this in their careers.
10 Football Players Who Troubled With Gambling
1. Michael Chopra
Source image: Twimg.com
The former Cardiff City striker has had a career in various English football leagues, but he often has troubles outside the match. Recently, he was confirmed to have lost about £2 million due to gambling. Michael also confessed that joining Sunderland is to pay his debt starting from his teenage period at Newcastle.
The British Horseracing Authority has also accused Michael Chopra of suspicious gambling activities. However, he actually spent time at a charity founded by Tony Adams, who is an Arsenal legend to provide rehabilitation and detox facilities for athletes. Chopra went to Scotland and India to join Alloa Athletic and Kerala Blasters and then retired in 2016.
2. Eidur Gudjohnsen
This ex-Chelsea striker has had a title-streaking career that lasted for 20 years. However, he also failed to escape from the temptation of gambling. Once, he confessed that he had lost nearly 500,000 pounds in just a couple of months due to blackjack and roulette wheels when he had an injury.
Eidur Gudjohnsen spent time playing in China, Greece, and Belgium in his career’s few last years before becoming an assistant for the Under-21 team of Iceland, and then the manager of the FH club also in Iceland.
3. Matthew Etherington
Source image: Premierleague.com
Matthew Etherington is also a footballer who used to spend time at the Sporting Chance clinic in his career. This ex-West Ham winger once became addicted to bets on horse racing and poker and he once made a £300,000 loan with the Hammers after amassing more than £800,000 of gambling debt.
Etherington strived for the UEFA coach badge after quitting football in 2014 because his back injury recurred. He challenged himself by managing the Under-18 team of Peterborough United club.
4. Wayne Rooney
During his extraordinary football career, Rooney has definitely made countless headlines, both for his skills on the field and his gambling issues. He is reported to lose £500,000 in a casino in Manchester when he was a player for the Old Trafford club.
Rooney returned to England, participating in the Championship club Derby County. He is a frequent player for Philip Cocu, but it was a controversial move led by the club’s main sponsor, the betting company 32Red.
5. Kyle Lafferty
The Rangers and Burnley’s ex-striker has confirmed his gambling habits many times. He started with online gambling after training and competing as he was bored, but the FA once charged him £23,000 for betting on the final results of various football matches.
Lafferty has moved to Sunderland, Hearts, and Sarpsborg 08 in Norway in recent years, but he is currently joining the Reggina of Serie B, as well as continuing to be a vital player under the leadership of the new coach Ian Baraclough.
6. Joey Barton
Source image: Mirror.co.uk
Joey Barton is another footballer who got into trouble with gambling. In the end, this former midfielder was accused of violating the FA’s rules regarding gambling after continuously betting on the final results of football matches for 10 years.
Barton is said to have made 1260 bets during that period and because of that, he was banned for 18 months. Before this, he was banned from playing one game for violating the Scottish Football Association’s rules on betting during his time at the Rangers.
7. Paul Merson
This Arsenal legend has created countless wonders during his career. Unfortunately, he let drugs, alcohol, and gambling get in his path to glory. Merson is said to have used thousands of pounds regularly, and he once had to sell his house due to an average debt of about 7 million pounds.
The former striker is now famous for his position at Sky Sports, and he has played for many English and Wales’ non-league clubs after his success at Highbury.
8. David Bentley
Source image: Premierleague.com
Instead of playing football betting for matches, this footballer is said to have such an addiction to online poker, horses, and greyhounds racing that he made nearly 100 bets in one day. He confessed not long ago that he started to gamble when he was 14 and joined Arsenal’s Academy.
The ex-Tottenham Hotspur player now works in several different entertainment companies across Europe and monitors a company specializing in bespoke flooring.
9. Andros Townsend
This Crystal Palace player is another one who has violated the FA’s rules of betting. His gambling went chaotic due to a loan in Birmingham City. He had to manage the English Under-21 team to join the European Championship in 2013 after taking a 4-month suspension which negatively affected his career and the mother club Spurs.
Townsend has been a vital player of Roy Hodgson recently, with his performance helping the Eagles reach the best mid-group finishes.
10. Dietmar Hamann
Source image: Footballtransfertavern.com
Throughout his career, this Germany’s ex-midfielder is said to gamble multiple times. He got into a divorce and had to leave his children due to gambling.
After retiring at Anfield, he became a coach for MK Dons, Stockport County, and Leicester. He made a short comeback to the field with the TuS Haltern in his early 40s. Nevertheless, his focus at the moment is on punditry and an editor for some publications.
Conclusion
From those footballer’s examples, we can fully understand the negative impact of gambling on our lives. Above is our list of Top 10 Football Players Who Got Into Troubles With Gambling. Leave a comment if you think there is someone suitable to put on this list.
