Bribery rebuke shows there is still integrity in the game - Tony McNamee 

Tony McNamee admits that the League of Ireland remains extremely vulnerable to illegal gambling approaches. 

Gardaí are currently investigating an incident in which a member of the public allegedly offered to bribe a player prior to a recent fixture.

The League of Ireland says the offer to participate in spot-fixing, believed to be in the region of €30,000, was immediately rejected by the player.

Spot-fixing involves influencing a specific part of a game that is unrelated to the final result but can be subject to betting – such as timing the first throw-in or, in this case, to get purposely sent off. 

League of Ireland players, professional and part-time, earn modest salaries and Finn Harps captain McNamee says criminal gangs will continue to look to exploit that fact. 

“Clubs take real ownership of this and Finn Harps certainly have,” he told DonegalLive. “We have meetings with the PFAI (Professional Footballers Association of Ireland) and the club hosts its own integrity workshops which are of real value. 

“With the staff and the board, that process starts pre-season and you’d hold at least two more during the campaign. 

“As well as that there are councils and chaplains in each club throughout the league and it’s another port of call for players that are having other issues or problems in their life where they just need some guidance or someone to speak to. 

“To be fair to the league and the clubs, they are very proactive on this. You don’t hear about it, it’s not front and centre. It’s discrete. But in light of last week, it’s good to maybe just highlight all of that”. 

In a statement, the PFAI praised the player in question for the manner in which he dealt with the incident. 

“There is no concern related to his involvement in any spot-fixing or match-fixing and we commend him on his actions in this regard,” it said.

“His response in this situation and the actions he took were exactly as we recommend to players.”

The PFAI added that it continues to carry out “extensive work” with players to educate them on the dangers of spot-fixing.

McNamee added: “The part-time element to League of Ireland, it means players will continue to get targeted. But we’re talking about this because a player said no, and that’s the really positive thing and it’s great that this is being highlighted under those circumstances. 

“It’s murky and it goes really deep. The people behind these kinda things, the ones at the very top, they’re probably well out of reach. Gambling now, it’s at your fingertips. It’s a thing that is probably very easy for them to implement but so hard for the authorities to track. 

“Look at the amount of fake or dubious information and pages that now exist on social media. There is no trail. It’s very easy to contact players. 

“And lads aren’t being asked to throw games. It can centre on the smallest things, things that might well feel irrelevant, like the first corner or something like that. 

“But the money involved will no doubt tempt some people who maybe financially are struggling to meet certain overheads. Like I said, the positive thing this week is that it’s been brought to conversation.”

McNamee agrees there is a moral issue at play here but he warns that there will always be individuals susceptible to influence, particularly when there are large sums of money involved. 

“Whether you are professional, semi-professional or amateur, you know the difference between right and wrong. And I know life isn’t that simple for many. 

“But the reason you play football, or I play football, it’s certainly never been about money. I’ve always played for my club, my teammates and the supporters. 

“So for me, it’s hard to understand how someone can turn around and go against or muddle those intentions. It’s going to need instances like last week where players continue to come forward and highlight this. 

“And the governing bodies, they have a huge role to play right at the very top of all of this. But again, like I said, this week has been positive”.