Lawless Charged By SFA

Photo by Jeff Holmes

Partick Thistle winger Steven Lawless has been accused of breaching Scottish Football Association rules by betting on more than 500 games.

But the SFA stated there was no evidence to suggest that Lawless had gambled on games he was involved in.

Lawless has received his SFA notice of complaint a week after Thistle confirmed reports that it was on its way from Hampden.

The former Motherwell player is accused of breaking the SFA's zero-tolerance rules by betting on 513 football matches between December 2012 and March 3 this year.

The 24-year-old has been called to appear before an SFA-appointed judicial panel on May 21.

Lawless is the fourth player to be charged with breaching the SFA's betting rules.

Earlier this year, the SFA failed in a bid to increase Rangers goalkeeper Steve Simonsen's punishment for betting on 50 games in a year after two independent panels ruled he should serve an immediate one-match ban.

Simonsen's team-mate, Ian Black, was the first to be punished in September 2013. He was given an immediate three-match ban and a £7,500 fine for a series of bets over seven years including three against his own teams. Black once had Rangers to draw with East Stirlingshire on his accumulator but scored the third goal in his team's 4-2 victory.

Five months later, then Ayr striker Michael Moffat served a four-game ban after he was found guilty of placing seven bets on six matches involving his own team, as well as a number of other bets.