Arsenal: The FA are investigating a Premier League yellow card over suspicious betting | OneFootball

The Football Association are investigating a yellow card received by an Arsenal player in a Premier League match this season, according to The Athletic.

The booking is being looked into as a result of suspicious betting patterns where an unusual amount of money was placed on the unnamed Gunners footballer to pick up a yellow card in the game.

When English football's governing body was asked about the situation, they responded by saying: “The FA is aware of the matter in question and is looking into it.”

FA investigation underway

Several workers in the gambling industry have described the instance under investigation as being "highly unusual".

The identity of the player - as well as the game, match officials and incident - at the centre of the FA probe are hitherto unknown.

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Instances of so-called 'spot betting' can be hard for governing bodies to combat as the outcomes are much simpler for guilty individuals involved in sporting events to manipulate for their gains.

When Sky Sports reached out to Arsenal for a reaction to the alarming news, the Premier League giants said that they would be not be commenting on the investigation at this stage.

The case of Bradley Wood

One of the most high-profile instances of a betting investigation along these lines concerned ex-Lincoln City player Bradley Wood, who was found guilty of two match-fixing offences in 2018.

Wood was banned for six years after twice getting booked intentionally during wins over Ipswich Town and Burnley during the Imps' FA Cup run in the 2016/17 season.

The FA revealed that seven people, including two close friends, had bet on the bookings to the tune of £10,000 in potential winnings, but not all of it was paid out due to the circumstances.

Arsenal in 2021/22

Arsenal have enjoyed a strong Premier League campaign under Mikel Arteta despite having lost their opening three games to Brentford, Chelsea and Manchester City.

The north London club are hoping to return to the Champions League for the first time in the post-Arsene Wenger era and have also earned themselves a place in the Carabao Cup semi-final.

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The extent to which the FA's betting investigation may hang a cloud over this progress remains to seen as insufficient evidence and details have been revealed about its exact circumstances so far.

However, regardless of the context, it's certainly worrying to hear that there is any suspicion at all surrounding the integrity of a booking at the highest level of English football.