England legend: 50 % of professional football players play bets

Former National football representative Joey Barton has confirmed that 50% of professional football players place bets in football matches.

He has said the raid has been taken culturally, writes BBC.

The former Burnley midfielder, now 35-year-old, was suspended by the English Football Federation in April 2017 for violating the booking rules.

It was found that Barton had placed 1,260 bets in football matches over the past 10 years.

I think if they found out who'd bets and fought them, they'd abort half of the league. I think 50% of the players would be excluded”, Barton told the BBC