Unfortunate situation for the club with Lewis Macari. All relate to before he joined the club. The club are supporting him.

How long does it usually take for the process to conclude? What are the precedents and the consequences if the charges are upheld?

BBC Sport

Lewis Macari: Notts County defender charged with breachin...

Notts County defender Lewis Macari is charged by the FA with breaching its betting rules over the course of almost three years.

i dont know what is likely to happen with regards to this but at least it predates joining us. i think its quite a serious thing tho, if he has gambling issues he needs the support to get it stopped. i hope its just a fine and the worst case scenario a short ban from playing.

I won't pass an opinion on this until it's all concluded & we have a verdict. It is concerning though.

Let's hope so @liampie, on both counts.

The rules are probably quite strict. The closer the matches get to ones your'e playing in the worse the consequences I think.

I follow the NBA, and this kind of thing spells curtains for a player. Jontay Porter got a lifetime playing ban. The FBI is involved with charges against Malik Beasley. The difference there is betting on individual stats which are easy to fix. Rule breaches in football don't approach criminality in the same way. Ivan Toney finally got a 8-match ban but was also cleared of any 'match fixing'.

Let's hope Lewis's case turns out to be as innocent as possible. Aljofree, Ness and McDonald can look after things if necessary. We're well covered.

osman foyo who plays for afc wimbledon has been charged for what seems a similar offence.

https://www.afcwimbledon.co.uk/news/2025/july/10/statement--fa-charge/

BBC Sport

Osman Foyo: AFC Wimbledon forward charged by FA with bett...

AFC Wimbledon forward Osman Foyo is charged by the Football Association for breaching betting rules on 252 occasions.

I watched a video on YouTube last week where it spoke about how match-fixing syndicates target young players. It mentioned how it can start by encouraging them to place bets, and once they get hooked on making money, it gives them more of a buzz to keep going. I am not implying that match-fixing is connected to these cases, but it's disturbing to see how these crime groups are targeting exceptionally talented young players.

Some media outlets are already connecting Lewis Macari's grandfather's troubles with gambling.

I do tend to sympathise a little because gambling has always been a huge problem, and it will only get worse. I am fully aware that professional athletes can't place bets, especially within football, but it's very easy to get involved. Football is very heavily associated with gambling, so that temptation is always there, and to some it might seem harmless placing a bet on a game which has no connection to where you play, but it's still never a good idea.

It's time for betting companies to have the same treatment as alcohol manufacturers.

Because if people think seeing a Liverpool shirt with Carlsberg on it is enough to tempt people, then betting companies need to stop using sport as a means to ram their product down the throats of fans, and they need to be held accountable just as much as the players.

Match-fixing is an entirely separate issue, and I firmly oppose it, regardless of whether players have been manipulated or exploited. I’ve always empathised with players like Tony Adams and Paul Merson, who struggled with alcoholism and faced cruel taunts as a result. Any form of addiction is scary and concerning, and the amount reported with Macari would lead you to assume he did have a problem of some kind.

It is a strange place we find ourselves in given that the FA and football teams will happily accept the money from sponsorship to, in turn, promote this financial wrecking ball to supporters who are often paid a lot less than footballers. As uncomfortable as this is, I bet it wasn't a shock and makes Aljofree signing all the more sensible. I just hope he gets the help he needs and that him and the club cooperate accordingly.

I like Lewis Macari. He's a good young player with promise, and it’s a shame if he has been betting. I hope, for his sake and ours, he doesn’t get banned.

All the club can do is stand by him, give him the support he needs and hope for the best. Hopefully this will be a relatively minor infringement resulting in a slap on the wrist and a three-match ban. In the worst case we won't see him in a Notts shirt again. I've heard similar gossip about a couple of other players, hopefully none of it is true.

As @piedestrian says, the relationship between football and betting companies is far too cosy and it's high time something was done. Something for the football regulator to look at.

It feels like for the first time in a long time we are being a bit hammered by bad news; losing Bass, Jatta’s travel visa, the long delay in releasing the home shirt and now this.

I saw Ryan Bowman got a 42-month match ban but that was for over 6000 bets and he was betting on matches he played in. No idea if you can bet on youth team fixtures as those were the only matches Macari would’ve been playing at the time (plus a short spell at Dundalk which you could bet on).

I agree football has a big gambling problem. It’s somewhat ironic that the FA are happy for footballers to essentially be walking adverts for betting companies. It’s even worse at Stoke though, they might as well rename themselves to Bet365 FC.

General FA Betting Rules:

Since August 1, 2014, all professional football players in England have been subject to a blanket ban on placing bets on football anywhere in the world. This includes:

• Betting, directly or indirectly, on any football match or competition.

• Betting on any football-related matter (e.g., transfers, manager employment, team selection).

• Passing on "inside information" (non-public information due to their position) to others for betting purposes, even if they didn't know it would be used for betting.

These cases highlight the FA's commitment to maintaining the integrity of the sport and the severe consequences players face for breaching betting regulations.

This could be a major issue for Lewis Macari, the FA are strict when it comes to players betting.

It's more than likely Macari will be banned for a period of time, though it's anyone's guesses as to how long. I highly doubt he will get away with being banned, if found fulity and charges are usually only given once a considerable amount of proof has been obtained.

Ivan Toney: 8 months ban, £50,000 fine in 2023 for 232 breaches.
Sandro Tonaldi: 10 months ban, £20,000 unknown amount of breaches.
Joey Barton: 18 months ban (later reduced to 13 months) fine unknown, but 1,260 breaches.
Ryan Bowman: faced a significant 42-month ban, alongside an undisclosed fine, for an astounding 6,497 breaches.
Daniel Sturriage: 4 months ban, £70,000 fine for providing transfer information about his brother which was used for betting.
Kieran Trippier: 10 week ban, fined £70,000 for revealing his transfer to Atletic Madrid in a WhatsApp group, which led to a friend placing a bet.
Harry Toffolo: 5 month ban, fined £21,000 for 375 breaches.
Andros Townsend: faced a four-month ban, later reduced to one month, and was fined £18,000 for an undisclosed breach.
Wayne Shaw: 8 week ban, fined £375 for influciancing betting markets by eating a Pukka pie during an FA Cup match.
Kynan Isaac: 12-year ban, delibaretely obtained a yellow card in a match, which he had told friends to bet on.
Martin Demichelis: Fined £22,000 for placing 29 bets over three weeks, he avoided a ban because the FA didn't believe he had any influence on bets.
Cameron Jerome: Fined £50,000 for repeatedly breathing betting regulations, no ban was given as the bets had no invovlment with games.

Just an hours research found these examples, which shows that the only hope Macari is not banned is if the games had no relevence to games connected to him, or if the information was detrimental to games.

5 hours ago, Chris said:

Because if people think seeing a Liverpool shirt with Carlsberg on it is enough to tempt people, then betting companies need to stop using sport as a means to ram their product down the throats of fans, and they need to be held accountable just as much as the players.

It wasn't an outright ban, just a threat but there was a lot of leverrage applied to clubs to stop partnering with companies like Carlsberg. Betting companies were included in the potential restrictions, but nothing came of it.

InsightX

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We review how gambling and other industries have permeated through the Premier League through their front-of-shirt sponsorship deals.

After 6,496 bets, Bowman must've thought he'd get away with the 6,497th!

I know it doesn't work like that, but how can you possibly bet so much before the FA do anything about it?

I really hope the bets have no connection to any information connected to Lewis Macari or youth games, as otherwise we could be looking at a lengthy ban.

5 hours ago, piedestrian said:

As uncomfortable as this is, I bet it wasn't a shock and makes Aljofree signing all the more sensible.

Most likely, I agree with you that the club might be preparing for Macari to be banned for several months. Looking at the list, according to @TheSkipper's analysis, it appears that even those with over 300 might face a lengthy ban. I am really hoping the first part of my comment above this quote is the case.

7 minutes ago, theAnticlough said:

I know it doesn't work like that, but how can you possibly bet so much before the FA do anything about it?

I assume it's due to the complexity that comes with proving it, the FA doesn't issue charges without extensive proof and evidence. So, it makes me wonder if in Lewis Macari's case someone tipped them, then they spent all this time investigating it and making their case as concrete to issue the chagers. I mean, the amount sounds quite signicant to me until I read the various amounts noted by The Skipper.

Now it seems near to be some form of average amount, but the fact they can find totals seems facinating to me.

First, I hope Lewis is getting all the support he requires. The FA are cracking down big time so I fear Lewis is facing a lengthy ban if found guilty. Going on previous cases, it will probably be 10 to 18 months. The hypocrisy of the FA is well discussed above but players know the rules.

It might be a blessing that he was still a youth player at the time, and it depends on how open and honest he is about the incidents. If the FA see remorse, and that Lewis Macari hasn’t repeated it since (hopefully), they might give him some leeway.

Each case is always judged differently, and I’m hoping Macari won’t face such a long ban that he misses over a season. I know it’s a bit wishful, but what harm could he really have done while still at youth level? I suppose we won’t know until more about the case is made public.