In something you don’t see at the top levels of European soccer anymore, Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge has been charged with allegedly breaching the Football Association’s betting rules.

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4. Nfl Employee Gambling Policy Rules

You are expected to comply at all times with the NFL Constitution and Bylaws, in their present form and as amended from time to time, the NFL Personal Conduct Policy, the NFL Employee Handbook, the NFL Gambling Policy, the NFL Information Technology Security Policies, all other NFL policies, rules, and regulations, and all applicable decisions of the Commissioner, available on NFL Playbook or by contacting a Compliance Officer.

The seven-page policy from 2015, the most recent version made available by NFL Communications, can be read below. It applies not just to players, but to “all NFL Personnel,” including owners. The NFL’s gambling policy says it’s permissible to have “general advertising in the sovereign name of a Native American Nation, regardless of whether that Native American Nation operates or holds. POLICIES & PROCEDURES Page 1 Responsible Gambling Policy Policy Goals The goals of the Responsible Gambling Policy are to: Manage potential harm associated with gambling by creating a responsible gambling environment. Educate and inform employees, members and the local community about potential harm associated with gambling.

Specifically, Sturridge is accused of breaking Rule E8(1)(a)(ii) and Rule E8(1)(b) during January 2018.

He has until Tuesday, Nov. 20 to respond. Sturridge has stated “categorically that he has never gambled on football,” said a Liverpool spokesperson.

Soooo … what does that mean?

Just follow this and then I’ll speculate. Here are the FA betting rules Sturridge is accused of violating:

• Rule E8(1)(a) – 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 or in connection with, 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.
• Rule E8(1)(b) – where a participant provides to any other person any information relating to football which the participant has obtained by virtue of his or her position within the game and which is not publicly available at that time, the participant shall be in breach of this Rule where any of that information is used by that other person for, or in relation to, betting.

Sturridge was accused of this violation in January 2018.

In January 2018, Sturridge completed a loan to West Brom Albion. Rule E8(1)(a) states that, “a participant shall not bet, either directly or indirectly…or enable any person to bet on…the transfer of players…” Rule E8(1)(b) states that, “where a participant provides to any other person any information relating to football which the participant has obtained by virtue of his or her position within the game…”

It’s reasonable given the timeframe to assume that Sturridge either intentionally or carelessly provided information of his transfer to someone who placed and won a large wager. We here at TheLines are not the betting type of people, but it’s like -350 that’s what happened.

Governing athletes in the U.S.

Europe has a significantly more mature sports betting market than the U.S. Players at the top levels know the rules.

So what exactly are sports betting rules for U.S. pro athletes?

Major League Baseball

We all know that Pete Rose earned himself a lifetime ban. In general, this is pretty straightforward. Section D of Major League Baseball Rule 21 states:

1. Any player, umpire, or Club or League official or employee, who shall bet any sum whatsoever upon any baseball game in connection with which the bettor has no duty to perform, shall be declared ineligible for one year.
2. Any player, umpire, or Club or League official or employee, who shall bet any sum whatsoever upon any baseball game in connection with which the bettor has a duty to perform, shall be declared permanently ineligible.

National Football League

The NFL has an interesting and somewhat confusing view of gambling in general. They’ve opposed gambling and were behind lobbying efforts around the UIGEA. Yet they provide injury reports with a wink-wink-nod-nod to how that impacts gamblers, and their owners had no issue investing in daily fantasy sports sites. As far as “NFL personnel” go, however, this is more clearly defined:

League policy strictly prohibits NFL Personnel from participating in or facilitating any form of illegal gambling. In addition, NFL Personnel are prohibited from engaging in any of the following gambling-related activities, regardless of whether such activities are legal:

• Accepting a bribe or agreeing to throw or fix a game or illegally influence its outcome, statistics or score;
• Failing promptly to report any bribe offer or any attempt to throw or fix a game or to illegally influence its outcome, statistics or score;
• Betting on any NFL game or practice, or any other professional (e.g., NBA, MLB, NHL,PGA, USTA), college (e.g., NCAA basketball), or Olympic sport. including but not limited to wagers related to game outcome, statistics, score, or performance of any individual participant
• Sharing confidential information regarding any game or any participating individual’s Status for or performance in any game without authorization or for the purpose of enabling or facilitating gambling;
• Participating in or condoning any form of gambling while in any Club or League setting including, without limitation, locker rooms, practice or office facilities, or while traveling on Club or League business; or
• Entering into, utilizing or otherwise visiting a “sports book ” at any time during the NFL playing season.

National Basketball Association

Rumors have swirled for years regarding why Michael Jordan really left the NBA the first time. And we all know about Tim Donaghy. The NBA Constitution states:

Any person who, directly or indirectly, wagers money or anything of value on the outcome of any game played by a Team in the league operated by the Association shall, on being charged with such wagering, be given an opportunity to answer such charges after due notice, and the decision of the Commissioner shall be final, binding, conclusive, and unappealable. The penalty for such offense shall be within the absolute and sole discretion of the Commissioner and may include a fine, suspension, expulsion and/or perpetual disqualification from further association with the Association or any of its Members.

Additionally, per the league’s collective bargaining agreement, players have to take a mandatory gambling awareness program.

Expect very public player and personnel policy

As sports betting continues to roll out to more states, with so much at stake, expect stricter, clearly defined, and more public player policy from all professional leagues. It’s in the best interest of the leagues, players, and bettors.

I wrote an article on April 16th, 2016, on the National Football League’s use of virtual reality training to confront racism and sexism. Have things really changed in the NFL since then?

This article will analyze the racial and gender makeup of the players, league office, coaching staff and general managers, and owners to determine if there has been an increase in diversity in the NFL as a whole. I pulled research from the NFL’s Diversity and Inclusion Reports along with statistics from The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports.

Coaching Staff & General Managers

NFL Executive Vice President Troy Vincent said, “Since the first Diversity and Inclusion Coaching Mobility Report in 2013, it has been noted that the NFL has led the sports industry by intentionally hiring a diverse and inclusive workforce, as well as increasing opportunity for minority coaches. While improvement is evident, there must be an ongoing effort to break mobility barriers and establish a cultural norm of opportunity for all. The NFL recognizes these challenges and is committed to taking practical steps to ensure concrete results.” Let’s delve into the 2019-2020 season report and compare it to the 2016-2017 season report.

According to the NFL’s 2020 Diversity and Inclusion Report, released March 21, 2020, it seems not much has changed in terms of opportunities for people of color.

NFL.com states, “The annual study, led by Dr. C. Keith Harrison from the University of Central Florida, examines whether ethnic minorities face occupational access barriers after one or more stints as a head coach in the NFL. Dr. Harrison and his team also analyzed occupational access barriers and mobility patterns of NFL general managers, offensive coordinators, defensive coordinators and other primary NFL team position coaches.”

I looked at the data provided by Dr. Harrison to determine what the percentages are of people of color in certain categories in the NFL are from the 2019 season and compared those to the 2016 season. The results show that between February 4, 2019 and February 2, 2020, NFL teams filled a total of 31 open positions for head coaches, offensive coordinators, defensive coordinators, and general managers. White men were hired for 24 of the 31 available positions, 77.4%, while only seven different men of color were hired for the remainder of open positions, 22.58%. Men of color, however, made up six of the 31 positions, 19.35%, who were fired, resigned, promoted, retired or otherwise “mutually parted ways” with an NFL team. No head coaches have yet been women.

“Stated differently, from February 2019 to February 2020, the total number of men of color serving as head coaches, offensive coordinators, defensive coordinators and general managers increased only by one within the NFL—a marginal change with respect to improving leadership diversity and inclusion at the NFL team level,” the findings from the 2020 report state.

In addition, only three of the nine head coaches of color, Anthony Lynn, Brian Flores and Ron Rivera, who were hired since the start of the 2012 NFL season, remain current NFL head coaches as of February 22, 2020.

Contrast those findings to the 2017 NFL Diversity and Inclusion Report and you find that between February 8, 2016 and February 5, 2017 NFL teams hired a total of 30 open positions for head coaches, offensive coordinators, defensive coordinators and general managers. One less open position than in the 2019-2020 season. White individuals were hired for 22 of these positions, 73.3%, while only seven different men of color were hired for these 30 positions, 23.3%. With Anthony Lynn being hired as both an offensive coordinator and head coach during the period.

This means that in the 2016-2017 season, only 23.3% of positions were filled by people of color versus 22.58% of positions being filled by people of color in 2019-2020 season. This is a decrease of 0.72% in a four year period. In addition, during the 2016-2017 season 18.75% of head coaches, offensive coordinators, defensive coordinators, and general managers who were fired, resigned, promoted or otherwise “mutually parted ways” with an NFL team were people of color. This percentage has increased to 19.35% in the 2019-2020 season.

These percentages can be looked at in a variety of ways, but it seems to show there has not been a significant change from the 2016 season to the 2019 season in terms of diversity of NFL coaching staffs. The Rooney Rule was introduced in 2003 with the goal being to increase the number of minorities in head coaching positions and expanded in 2009 to include general manager jobs and equivalent front-office positions. The rule mandates that an NFL team must interview at least one minority candidate for these jobs. This means, however, that a team can just interview a person of color just to meet the rule but not actually give them a meaningful look.

In 2018, the rule was changed to include additional mandates such as looking outside of the organization to interview at least two candidates for any vacant head-coaching job and at least one minority candidate from outside their organization for any vacant offensive, defensive or special-teams coordinator job. Teams and the league office are also now required to interview minorities and/or female applicants for other specific positions as well. The rule keeps expanding but has yet to produce meaningful results.

Owners

According to The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports, “The NFL has two owners of color who both have major ownership interests and are significantly involved in the operations of an NFL club.” One owner is Shad Khan, a Pakistani-born American businessman and the principal owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars and became part of NFL ownership in 2012. The Buffalo Bills also have an owner with a significant stake, Kim Pegula, who is an Asian American woman and joined NFL ownership in 2014. The start of the 2019, saw seven women as principal owners in the NFL.

However, it seems that only two people of color hold a majority stake in NFL teams with only seven women holding a majority interest. With 32 teams in the NFL, only 8 owners with a majority stake are from minority groups.

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Players

However, according to The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports 2019 report on the NFL, the percentage of people of color on NFL player rosters has decreased since 2016.

The total people of color saw its largest decline, falling 2.5 percentage points from 72.6 percent in 2016 to 70.1 percent in 2019.

The playing field has become less diverse it seems since 2016. In 2016, then 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, took a knee during the National Anthem to protest the treatment of minorities in the United States. Some interpreted the kneeling as a protest of the American flag and called it shameful and disrespectful, but Kaepernick and many other players of color explained on multiple occasions they were peacefully protesting the racism and systematic oppression of people of color. It has been four years and not much has changed. Kaepernick sued the NFL claiming NFL teams colluded to keep him and other protesters out of the league. He has, as of June 16th, 2020, not been signed by another NFL team since the 2016 season.

League Office

The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports 2019 report on the NFL showed that the percentage of women in the NFL League Office reached an all-time high of 36.8 percent in 2019 compared to 32.3% in 2016. In addition, 10.2% of management staff were African American, the highest percentage in the last 15 years. However, women and people of color in the league office at or above the vice president level saw a slight downturn.

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The league office have tried to be vocal about inclusivity, diversity, and inclusion, but many deem the sentiments as mere lip service. Recently, with Black Lives Matter protests of the numerous killing of Black men and women, the NFL made a statement, that appeared to be, a half-hearted attempt to “appease the masses.”

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NFL players then took to social media and came out with a statement of their own.

This video prompted the NFL to quickly try to respond, but some say it wasn’t genuine or sincere. It was a mea culpa from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, but it seems staged and it lacked empathy.

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Times are changing? Let’s hope change comes sooner rather than later.