Paul Scholes has issued an apology after receiving a £8,000 fine from the Football Association for breaching rules on betting while a co-owner of Salford City.
Scholes was charged two months ago for placing 140 bets on football matches between August 2015 and January of this year.
None of the 140 bets were related to Salford, though Scholes did place money on matches involving Manchester United and Valencia, at a time when his Class of ‘92 associates were working at those clubs.
Over the two-and-a-half year period concerned, the former midfielder’s stakes amounted to £26,159, with a net profit made of £5,831.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Scholes said: “I accept last week’s ruling. I would like to apologise and I understand and fully accept the fine imposed by the FA.
“It was a genuine mistake and was not done with any deliberate intention to flout the rules.
“I wrongly believed that as long as there was no personal connection between me and any of the matches that I bet upon then there would be no issue.
“However, I understand now that this is not the case and I should have taken steps to verify this at the time.”
The FA's report states that Scholes placed a total of eight bets on United matches, at a time when his Salford colleagues Ryan Giggs and Nicky Butt were working at the club.
Scholes also backed Valencia to beat Barcelona at a time when Gary Neville was Valencia's head coach, with Phil Neville working at the club as an assistant.
As well as the bets regarding United and Valencia games, Scholes placed two bets on matches involving Oldham Athletic, the club he supports, in January 2019.
Scholes became the manager of Oldham the following month, lasting just 31 days in the job. The FA was satisfied there was no connection between the former midfielder and Oldham at the time the bets were placed.
The FA tightened rules on gambling in 2014, effectively prohibiting anyone involved in football from betting on the game, regardless of whether they are placing money on their club’s matches.
