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Read Full BioAFC Wimbledon player Osman Foyo has been fined and suspended for betting on soccer. Foyo was given a £1,000 ($1340) fine and a 5-month, partly suspended ban from playing for his violations.
The Dutch-born 21-year-old placed a total of 252 bets on matches between October 2023 and March 2025. He admitted to the violations, and none of the bets were on matches involving his own team.
As a result, his punishment is less severe than that of other recent violators. He has been suspended for one month starting immediately. The remaining four months of his ban are suspended until April 2027, provided he does not commit further breaches during that period.
A statement said the player and club accept the sanction, and AFC Wimbledon will support the player during and beyond his suspension. Foyo signed with AFC Wimbledon in January this year and has played eight times for the team.
The club was promoted to League 1 last season, which is the third tier of English soccer, two divisions below the Premier League.
Players Banned From Betting
The English Football Association (FA) prohibits players from placing bets on any soccer matches. Due to the risk of influencing a bet’s outcome, placing bets on games involving a player’s team is punished more severely.
High-profile cases of late resulted in longer bans for players. Premier League players Ivan Toney and Sandro Tonali were banned for eight and 10 months, respectively, after it was discovered that some of their bets were placed on their own teams.
In Toney’s case, the FA issued a lengthier ban as he had placed bets on himself to score in some matches. Tonali’s violations, meanwhile, came when he played in Italy and included bets made through illegal betting platforms.
AFC Wimbledon Campaigns Against Gambling
AFC Wimbledon has already joined a campaign against gambling. The club signed up to the Big Step in 2023, which advocates for an end to all gambling and betting-related sponsorship in football.
Speaking at the time, manager Johnnie Jackson said, “If you look at gambling and the damage that it can obviously cause … it’s touched a lot of people, probably more than we even realise. The more awareness around gambling you can create, the better.”
Jackson remains in charge of the club, and the case may further strengthen the team’s position against gambling in sport. Michele Little, a director at AFC Wimbledon, added, “We took the decision some time ago not to accept gambling advertising or sponsorship as a club.”
In the Premier League, clubs have voted to ban front-of-shirt gambling sponsors starting next season. Despite the impending ban, clubs continue to enter into agreements with gambling companies. Nottingham Forest announced a deal to feature Bally’s on the front of its shirt this season. In total, 11 of the 20 Premier League clubs have betting sponsors on their shirts.
