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Melbourne Victory midfielder Grant Brebner admits betting against his own club was the biggest mistake of his career. Brebner made a brief statement apologising for his actions on Monday, the first time he had spoken publicly since last week being suspended for two A-League matches.
But both the 31-year-old Scottish veteran and Victory officials refused to answer questions about what the former gambling addict described as “a moment of weakness”.
Brebner’s bets on Victory’s 3-1 Asian Champions League loss to Thailand’s Chonburi in March included a successful wager of $2.48 that Melbourne would not win the game, which returned $4.21.
The midfielder was injured and not with the squad at the time.
“The first bet was a moment of weakness. I started betting on the draw or Chonburi win, but when I realised what I was doing, I tried to cancel the bet. Unfortunately it was too late,” Brebner said.
He said he did not lay any further bets against the club because he “knew it wasn’t the right thing to do morally and it wouldn’t have sat well with me.”
Despite those misgivings, he made a second, larger bet involving the number of goals that would be scored in the game, which turned out to be unsuccessful.
He made no comment on the two-match penalty, which has been criticised as too lenient by some, including Adelaide coach Aurelio Vidmar.
Brebner, whose journeyman career started in the junior ranks at Manchester United in 1994, has previously revealed he spent time at a rehabilitation clinic in 2004 to battle a gambling addiction which at one stage cost him thousands of dollars per week.
“While I have stayed on top of this for some time, I have had a regrettable lapse,” he said.
“I am going to get further help. I need to do this for myself. I realise how important it is for me to get this right.
“I have let a lot of people down, including my family, and I have to live with that. The biggest mistake of my career has me discussing this today.”
Victory captain Kevin Muscat and Queensland Roar skipper Craig Moore were also sanctioned for placing bets on A-League games, but they were fined, rather than suspended, as the matches did not involve their own clubs.
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