Football: FA censures Scales for bet

The Football Association is to write to the Tottenham defender John Scales to remind him of the rule banning players from gambling on matches after he revealed how he had won pounds 800 on a game.

Scales said on last night's BBC Weekend Watchdog programme that he and a handful of his then Wimbledon team-mates had staked money on him to score the first goal in an FA Cup match against Sunderland in 1994 and won.

"What we did was just for a bit of fun, through naivety more than anything," he said. He added that he had only ever bet on football five or six times and would not do so again, given the FA's recent crackdown on gambling in the game.

The FA is not expected to take any disciplinary action against Scales in the light of his admission.