A hilarious viral moment turned into a gambling controversy and now it’s cost someone a job.
On Monday, National League team Sutton United took on Premier League giants Arsenal in the FA Cup. Arsenal came out easy 2-0 winners over the tiny team of semi-professionals from south London who play in the fifth tier of English football, but the result has been overshadowed by Sutton’s mammoth backup goalkeeper.
Wayne Shaw was seen on camera eating a pie during the game after English bookmaker Sun Bets had offered up 8-1 odds on that exact situation.
The 322-pound Shaw raised himself up from the bench in the 83rd minute, took a step toward the field, and took two giant bites out of a meat pie. Mouth full, Shaw seemed to enjoy his hot and crusty snack and he happily revealed after the game that he was well aware of the toasty prop bet.
“A few of the lads said to me earlier on: ‘What is going on with the 8-1 about eating a pie?’ I said: ‘I don’t know, I’ve eaten nothing all day, so I might give it a go later on,’” Shaw said, according to the Daily Mail.
“Sun Bets had us at 8-1 to eat a pie. I thought I would give them a bit of banter and let’s do it. All the subs were on and we were 2-0 down. I went and got it at half time from the kitchen, I had it all prepared and ready to go. It was meat and potato.”
While Shaw has been laughing about the entire incident — he ate a pie with Piers Morgan on “Good Morning Britain” on Tuesday — the English Football Association has taken a dim view of the incident. They’ve opened an investigation into Shaw to see if any betting rules have been breached.
Then on Tuesday morning Sky Sports reported that the club asked Shaw for his resignation and he accepted his fate.
The FA isn’t the only organization investigating the incident. The Gambling Commission, which oversees all gambling in the UK, also is looking into Sun Bets’ role in the pie fiasco.
Sun Bets controversially sponsored Sutton just for its game against Arsenal on Monday night and tweeted after the game that the team had paid out a “five-figure sum after @WayneShaw70 finishes his pie with glory! #YouBetcha #FACup.”
Shaw denies that he backed himself to pounce on the pie.
“Obviously, we are not allowed to bet. I think a few of the mates and a few of the fans,” Shaw said. “It was just a bit of banter for them. It is something to make the occasion as well, and you can look back and say it was part of it and we got our ticket money back.”
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