Man U's French players surrender their money to SAF; FA to investigate

I apologize right off the bat to the ny kid. I'm not sorry enough to change the headline, but I do feel a little bad.

Darren Fletcher recently had an interview published in the Brit Lad's mag The Zoo. In said article, Fletcher, a Scot, makes laugh on his French Manchester United teammates by revelling in his home nation's double over France in Euro 2008 qualifying. Then, Fletcher let loose the following gem

He [Sir Alex Ferguson] was happy when Scotland beat France. He won a bit of money because he was making bets with all the French lads - Patrice Evra, Louis Saha and Mikael Silvestre.

They were looking at him like he was a bit crazy, so they took any bet.

But he had the last laugh 'cos we managed to beat them twice!

Someone at the FA saw the quote, and now there is an investigation a-brewing.

It seems the FA frowns upon players and managers betting on their own matches. Even the ones that the FA itself does not sanction. That said, there is a slight speedbump on the way to throwing United out of the league for rampant disregard of the rules. None of United's French players set foot on the pitch in either of the Scotland matches. Silvestre was never selected to the squad, and Evra and Saha never made it off of the sub's bench.

I understand the rule, and especially the need for it. Football has enough problems without having someone pull a Pete Rose and bet on their own matches. But this investigation, should it come off, is pretty ridiculous. It would seem that this is a friendly-type bet, maybe a few quid (whatever a few quid is to these guys) based on the outcome of a match that they have a vested interest in. This is the rough equivalent of two mayors making a bet based on the outcome of the Super Bowl. Unless this is a series of bets for hundreds of thousands of pounds each, let it go. Because really, what's a tenner between friends?