Arbroath winger Gavin Swankie has been hit with an immediate four-match suspension after being found guilty of breaching Scottish FA betting regulations.
A further four-match ban has been suspended until the end of 2022/23 campaign and will be applicable if Swankie repeats the same offence.
The 38-year old stood charged with nine counts of gambling on football, spanning a decade — including the current campaign.
Seven were breaches of rule 31, which states: “No club, official, team official or other member of team staff, player, match official or other person under the jurisdiction of the Scottish FA shall gamble in any way on a football match.”
A further two historic violations of rules 22 (2012/13) and 33 (2013/14) were alleged, which also relate to betting.
The hearing took place on Friday over Zoom — as has become customary during the pandemic — as Swankie learned his fate.
Swankie’s notice of complaint was one of FOURTEEN relating to gambling issued by the Scottish FA in January.
Morton manager Dougie Imrie, Cove Rangers assistant manager Gordon Young and five different Elgin players — Adrian Sopel, Conor O’Keefe, Darryl McHardy, Matthew Cooper and Thomas McHale — were among those charged.
Shane Sutherland (Inverness CT), Rabin Omar (Stirling Albion), James McGowan (Albion Rovers), Bryan Gilfillan (Threave Rovers), Ashley Ballam (Strathspey Thistle) and Robert Scott (Deveronvale) also received notices of complaints.
Contract running down
Swankie signed a new deal in January which keeps him at Gayfield until the end of the season.
He is currently in his 13th campaign with the Lichties, having made more than 200 appearances over four spells with his home-town club.
Swankie helped Arbroath win the old Division Three title in 2011 and lift the League 1 trophy in 2019.
However, the versatile forward has seen first-team opportunities limited for table-topping Arbroath this term, playing just 10 times.
A favourite in Angus for many years, Swankie was a hero at Station Park during his five-year stint with Forfar Athletic. He has also turned out for Dundee and St Johnstone.
