Jamie Jellis, a midfielder for EFL League Two side Walsall, has been handed a five-month suspended ban and fined £1,200 for violating the Football Association (FA)’s betting regulations.
The 24-year-old placed a total of 2,248 bets on matches between April 2019 and July 2023, all of which occurred before he moved from non-league club Tamworth to Walsall in January last year.
Jellis admitted the charges at a hearing held by the Independent Disciplinary Commission last Friday. His ban covers “all football and football-related activities” but has been suspended for 12 months.
The ban will only take effect if he violates the FA’s betting regulations again within the next year.
In a short statement, Walsall thanked the Professional Football Association (PFA) for “its support to Jamie and the club throughout this process”.
It is understood that Jellis placed the bets over five seasons, when he was aged between 18 and 22. Of these bets, 198 were related to the teams he was playing for at the time, and 16 were directly on matches involving his own club.
In its ruling, the Independent Disciplinary Commission noted that the player had “placed a significant number of bets, though not to an excessive level”, but that Jellis “was young and inexperienced at the time, and lacked awareness and a full understanding of the FA’s betting regulations”.
Jellis suffered a total net loss of £2,856 from his betting. In a written statement, he said, “My mates who played local football all did ACCAs (accumulator bets) as part of their Saturday routine, and after I turned 18, I started doing the same.”
He added, “None of the clubs I played for during my loan spell at Stevenage gave me any indication that I was not allowed to bet on football matches.”
Jellis stated that at the time, he “did not think he would get back into professional football” and apologized for this, saying he “takes full responsibility for his actions”.
This season, Jellis has made seven appearances for Walsall, including six in EFL League Two, with his most recent outing coming against MK Dons on August 30.