Laughter turned to tears for Sutton's reserve goalkeeper Wayne Shaw as he left the club after it emerged yesterday the football Association had launched an investigation into whether their betting rules had been breached.
The FA and the Gambling Commission launched their separate inquiries over claims Shaw's eating of a pie in the final minutes of the 2-0 loss to Arsenal in their FA Cup fifth round clash on Monday had been so friends of his could win a bet.
The portly 46-year-old—a former Southampton youth team-mate of England icon Alan Shearer—told the Daily Mail that while he had not placed a bet at odds of 8/1 of him being caught on camera eating a pie, several of his friends had. He subsequently told BBC Radio he had eaten it because he was hungry after missing a meal during the day.
However, Sutton manager Paul Doswell told Sky Sports that Shaw—who was also involved in the club's disabled team—had left the club with immediate effect. "He's left as of now with a heavy heart on my part," said Doswell, a good friend of Shaw, known as 'the roly poly goalie'.
"He's made an error of judgement, a costly one on his part. He was in tears and crying down the phone."
An FA spokesperson said: "We are investigating to establish whether there has been any breach of The FA rules relating to betting." The Gambling Commission has also opened an enquiry as to whether the bookmaker has "met its licence requirement to conduct its business with integrity".
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