FA charge former Aston Villa and Leicester City youngster over betting breaches
Mitch Clark has been charged with the alleged placing of 312 bets on football matches over a 13-month period
The Football Association (FA) has charged Accrington Stanley defender Mitch Clark over alleged breaches of FA Rule E8.
This rule prohibits all professional players from any form of football betting who play in the Premier League, EFL Championship, League One and League Two, National League, National League North and South and Trident Leagues.
Clark allegedly placed 312 bets on football matches between 8 February 2022 and 10 March 2023.
He has until 17 May to respond to the charges.
Clark is the latest in a series of players to be charged by the FA for breaching betting rules.
The most high-profile and ongoing case involves Brentford and England forward Ivan Toney, who was charged with 232 alleged breaches in November 2022. A further 30 were added in December.
It was reported that Toney had apparently accepted some of the charges, but the Premier League star took to Instagram to express his disappointment and shock at the details of his case being leaked to the press before a hearing had even taken place.
Other recent cases include former Sunderland forward Chris Maguire, who was banned from all football activities for six weeks following multiple breaches of the FA rules.
Newcastle United and England defender Kieran Trippier was banned for 10 weeks and issued a £70,000 fine in 2020 after telling a friend to bet on his move from Tottenham Hotspur to Atletico Madrid in August 2019.
Ex-Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge was given a four-month ban and a £150,000 fine after he told his brother to bet on a move to La Liga side Sevilla in January 2018.
Lastly, Bristol Rovers manager Joey Barton was given an 18-month ban in 2017 for placing 1,260 bets over the course of a decade. Barton then retired from football following the ban despite it being reduced to five months after an appeal.