Manchester City defender Martin Demichelis is in trouble after being charged with misconduct in relation to alleged betting by the English Football Association.
The 35 years old Demichelis is accused of having broken worldwide rules which came into existence on August 1 2014 to prevent players from betting on any football activity whether inside or outside of their domestic league.
"It is alleged the player committed 12 breaches of FA Rule E8 concerning football matches between 22 January 2016 and 28 January 2016. He has until 5pm on 5 April 2016 to respond to the charge," said an FA statement:
Rule E8 states: "A Participant shall not bet, either directly or indirectly, or instruct, permit, cause or enable any person to bet on - (i) the result, progress, conduct or any other aspect of, or occurrence in, a football match or competition; or (ii) any other matter concerning or related to football anywhere in the world, including, for example and without limitation, the transfer of players, employment of managers, team selection or disciplinary matters."
There is no suggestion that Demichelis was involved in match fixing nor that he bet on games in which he was involved.
Demichelis is not the first professional football player to have been charged by the FA over betting offenses. Newcastle and England winger Andros Townsend was fined £18,000 ($26,000) and banned for four months in 2013 - a punishment which prevented him from playing at the European Under-21 Championship.
Dan Gosling, the Bournemouth midfielder, was fined £30,000 ($43,000) after breaching the rules in March 2014 while at former club Newcastle.
The misconduct charge is the latest blow for Demichelis, whose performances and that of his fellow teammates have dipped in recent weeks, with City falling out of contention in the Premier League title race after losing a number of crucial fixtures over the past couple of months.
