SHELBOURNE MEN’S FIRST-team coach Alan Quinn says he will be appealing the four-month ban he has been handed by the FAI after he was found to have breached the Association’s betting rules.
Quinn released a statement this evening through the PFAI as he responded to the reports of his ban that emerged on Saturday morning.
Quinn’s case was heard by an independent disciplinary committee, who found that he had breached betting rules in relation to 18 League of Ireland games played between 5 August 2022 and 5 May 2023.
The coach admitted it had been ‘a serious error of judgement’ on his part.
“I feel it necessary to respond to the reports of my suspension from football released by the FAI on Saturday.
“In the first instance, I accept fully that I breached the gambling regulations. This was a serious error of judgment on my part which I regret hugely.
“However, I think context is required here. First, I have suffered from gambling addiction in the past and while I now have the problem under some control, like any addiction, there are times when my judgment is impaired. Second, all the bets made were in losing accumulators and no profit was made. Third, I did not and would never bet on my team to lose a match. Fourth, although 18 matches were involved, there were only nine bets made.”
While he accepted that a ban is ‘warranted’, Quinn stated he will be appealing the ‘severity of the sanction’ and will be assisted by the PFA Ireland.
“I understand that no bets should have been made and I accept fully that a suspension is warranted. My belief is that the focus in this and related instances should be less on excessive punishment and more towards education and rehabilitation.
“Football is my life and livelihood and it is all I have ever known. I am finding it very difficult to mentally process that I will have absolutely no involvement in football at all, even as a spectator, for such a long period of time.
“I have now engaged the services of the PFA Ireland who have kindly agreed to help me and, with the assistance of Stephen McGuinness, and their solicitor Stuart Gilhooly, I will be lodging an appeal against the severity of the sanction.”
