Kane Hester and Kyle Willis of Elgin City applaud the fans at the end of the match - Editorial Use Only. PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxHUNxSWExNORxDENxFINxONLY ActionPlus12166183 DavidxYoung
Kane Hester picked up a booking against Hibernian but there seems to be a larger conspiracy being played out
Hibernian vs Elgin City was one of the Scottish League Cup matches that went according to plans but there is a lot of controversy regarding player betting rules from this match.
Hibs ended up winning the match 2-0 in July 2019. However, a lot has been said regarding Kane Hester’s yellow card.
The Elgin City star picked up the booking after stamping on a Hibernian player. Hester did not get sent off by the referee but this action might have been predetermined.
The BBC reports that Hester, alongwith three others, conspired to place a series of bets on him getting booked in the match.
While Hester has denied the allegations, the report adds that the quartet tried to defraud a betting company of £13,583.
The trio, Brodie Myers, Findlay Soutar and Calvin Parrot, alongwith Hester, allegedly conspired to bet on this action taking place a week before the match in 2019.
The four men ended up winning £17,333.32 from Bet365 and the charges claim that they gained £13,583.32 unlawfully.
However, the quartet have denied the charges of forming a scheme to gain money by placing bets on Hester getting booked in the match by the referee.
Case to be called up later in the year
There is some confusion over the charges levelled against the four men. One set of charges claim that five bets were placed on Hester getting booked at some point during the match.
Another set of charges alleges that the quartet cheated at gambling by placing the bets on Hester getting booked.
This led to the quartet getting an unlawful amount of £13,583.32 in winnings. The case will continue later this year at the Dundee Sheriff Court.
There have been several cases of match fixing and spot fixing in football over the years. Normally, this takes place in the lower leagues but a Hibs match getting caught up in all this is certainly interesting.
Betting on match actions is certainly a tough nut to crack. Daniel Sturridge and Kieran Trippier, both former Premier League footballs, have been caught up in betting breaches too.
Trippier’s case is especially interesting given that the case deals with his transfer to Atletico Madrid from Tottenham.
The Englishman was also banned from the FA and the case was fought in the courts of FIFA and CAS.