Pie-eating Sutton goalie Wayne Shaw resigns amid FA betting probe

Sutton United goalkeeper Wayne Shaw has resigned from his post at the club amid an investigation into a possible breach of betting regulations after he ate a pie during the FA Cup fifth round clash with Arsenal.

Shaw was named on the Sutton bench for the game against the Gunners on Monday (20 February) and was caught on camera eating the snack during the 83<sup>rd minute of the match, after manager Paul Doswell had already used all three of his permitted subs.

The footage was all over social media within minutes, with it later emerging that Sun Bets had offered odds of 8-1 on the 'Roly-Poly Goalie' to eat a pie live on air.

The FA and the Gambling Commission has confirmed they have launched separate investigations. Shaw has since offered his resignation which has been accepted by Sutton.

"It's been very disappointing," Sutton boss Doswell said, The Guardian report. "I woke up this morning to this storm of criticism and it's something that we have dealt with quickly as a club. Wayne himself has offered his resignation to the chairman and it's been accepted. There were tears down the phone this afternoon. It's a very sad end to what was a very good story."

Shaw admitted after the 2-0 defeat he had been aware of the offer. FA regulations state players should 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."

A statement from the FA on Tuesday read: "We are investigating to establish whether there has been any breach of the FA rules relating to betting," said a spokesman for English football's governing body.

The Gambling Commission have also launched a separate investigation. Richard Watson, Gambling Commission enforcement and intelligence director, said: "Integrity in sport is not a joke and we have opened an investigation to establish exactly what happened.

"As part of that we'll be looking into any irregularity in the betting market and establishing whether the operator has met its licence requirement to conduct its business with integrity."

Shaw said after Monday's match at Gander Green Lane: "A few of the lads said to me earlier on what is going on with the 8-1 about eating a pie. I said I don't know I have eaten nothing all day. So I might give it a go later on. As I say what is that, they had us at 8-1 to eat a pie. I thought I would give them a bit of banter and let's do it. All the subs were on and we were 2-0 down."