LFP sanctions six Nice players for flouting gambling rules

Nice have been caught up in a betting controversy after six players received bans and fines from the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) for gambling on matches in French football.

In total, 19 players and coaches have been sanctioned by the LFP for breaching betting rules, six of whom featured for Nice last season, including top scorer Valere Germain, who was on loan from Monaco, and Alexandre Mendy, who joined Guingamp on Friday. Germain has been hit with a two-match ban, with one suspended, and a fine of €1,500, while Kevin Gomis, Olivier Boscagli and Mendy received the same punishment.

The LFP’s disciplinary body also handed out a three-match suspended ban to Jeremy Pied and Albert Rafetraniaina but did not impose a fine. Nice coaches Alexandre Dellal and Emmanuel Valance were also punished.

Nice were not the only club to fall foul of the rules, though, as Bordeaux duo Thomas Toure and Cedric Carrasso received three-match suspended bans, while Calvin Mangan of third-tier club Chateauroux has been given a five-match ban, three of which are suspended. LFP rules state that professionals cannot bet on matches in competitions their team is involved in, but the body did not state which games the players and coaches placed wagers on.

Pied, who was part of a Nice team that finished fourth in Ligue 1 last season, accepted responsibility on Twitter. “I inadvertently bet 10 euros on a Ligue 1 match, a bet which I lost,” Pied wrote.

“Nice supporters, rest assured that in no way did I bet against Nice. You know me well enough to know I’m not capable of that. Regardless of the punishment I will accept it.”

Pierre Gibaud (Sochaux), Kevin Dupuis (Orleans), Anthony Derouard and Vincent Leca Boucher (both Bastia) complete the list of players sanctioned.
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Other coaches to receive punishments were Pierrer Barrieu (Le Havre), Jean-Michel Huriez (Caen), Julien Witkowski (Reims) and Robin Crouzil (Toulouse).