Martin
Demichelis has endured a chastening few weeks on the field -- now the
Manchester City defender is in trouble off it too after being charged
with misconduct in relation to alleged betting by the English Football
Association.
Demichelis, 35, is
accused of having broken worldwide rules which came into existence on
August 1 2014 to prevent players from betting on any football activity
whether inside or outside of their domestic league.
"It is alleged the player
committed 12 breaches of FA Rule E8 concerning football matches between
22 January 2016 and 28 January 2016. He has until 5pm on 5 April 2016 to
respond to the charge," said an FA statement:
Rule
E8 states: "A Participant shall not bet, either directly or indirectly,
or instruct, permit, cause or enable any person to bet on - (i) the
result, progress, conduct or any other aspect of, or occurrence in, a
football match or competition; or (ii) any other matter concerning or
related to football anywhere in the world, including, for example and
without limitation, the transfer of players, employment of managers,
team selection or disciplinary matters."
There is no suggestion that Demichelis was involved in match fixing nor that he bet on games in which he was involved.
Demichelis is not the first professional football player to have been charged by the FA over betting offenses.
Newcastle
and England winger Andros Townsend was fined £18,000 ($26,000) and
banned for four months in 2013 -- a punishment which prevented him from
playing at the European Under-21 Championship.
Dan
Gosling, the Bournemouth midfielder, was fined £30,000 ($43,000) after
breaching the rules in March 2014 while at former club Newcastle.
The
misconduct charge is the latest blow for Demichelis, whose performances
and that of his fellow teammates have dipped in recent weeks, with City
falling out of contention in the Premier League title race after losing
a number of crucial fixtures over the past couple of months.
City
manager Manuel Pellegrini, who announced he will leave the club at the
end of the season last month, has presided over defeats to rivals
Tottenham, Leicester and Manchester United with his team 15 points off
the pace and now fighting to qualify for next season's Champions League.
City did beat Liverpool to win the League Cup final and face Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League quarterfinals next week.
Manchester City declined to comment when contacted by CNN. Demichelis was not immediately available for comment.
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