English soccer player banned for FA Cup pie-eating bet stunt

LONDON – The English Football Association has banned a player for influencing a betting market when he ate a meat pie during his team’s landmark FA Cup game against Arsenal.

A newspaper’s betting company, which sponsored Sutton United, had 8-1 odds that Sutton’s overweight reserve goalkeeper Wayne Shaw would eat a pie during February’s globally-televised game at the south London club.

After Sutton used all of its substitutions and there was no chance Shaw would appear in the 2-0 loss to Arsenal, he munched on the pie while sitting on the bench.

The FA case ended at hearing Wednesday when Shaw was fined 375 pounds ($490) and banned from soccer for two months after he was found guilty of having “intentionally influenced a football betting market.”

Shaw quit Sutton after the game.