The National Hockey League (NHL) on Thursday imposed the first suspension in its history on a player for betting on sports. Ottawa Senators forward Shane Pinto will have to wait 41 games, but he compares favorably to others.
Here are four cases of athletes who would have been better off keeping their money in their wallets.
• Also read: Sports Betting: A very long ban for Shane Pinto
Pete Rose
The most famous suspension in history related to sports betting is that of Pete Rose. The legendary player and coach was banned from Major League Baseball for life in 1989. The Dowd Report at the time stated that in 1987, the former Montreal Expos placed 52 bets on games played by the Cincinnati Reds, which he was managing at the time. Although he protested vigorously and attempted to be reinstated several times, Rose ruined his later career. The 82-year-old, who won the World Series three times and is the all-time scoring leader, was never inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Sandro Tonali and Nicolo Fagioli
At the same time as Pinto, but on the other side of the Atlantic, two Italian football players caused a stir. This week Sandro Tonali (Newcastle United) and Nicolo Fagioli (Juventus) were banned for ten and seven months respectively. The first was caught after illegally betting on AC Milan games, for whom he played from 2020 to 2023. The two midfielders will have to do community service for several months, especially in nursing homes against addiction to betting or amateur sports associations.
Paul Hornung and Alex Karras
In 1963, two of the NFL’s stars at the time, Green Bay Packers running back Paul Hornung and Detroit Lions defensive tackle Alex Karras, were suspended indefinitely. According to Commissioner Pete Rozelle, the two men bet on games and allegedly associated themselves with shady people. While the first quickly admitted his mistakes, the second flatly denied the allegations. The following year they were able to get back on the race track without any major problems.
Sort of conciliator
If this name doesn’t mean much to you, that’s normal. Art Schlichter was the fourth pick in the 1982 NFL Draft and many saw him as the future great quarterback of the Indianapolis Colts. However, he was limited to just 13 games due to his gambling and betting problems. During the 1982 strike, he accumulated $700,000 in debt and quickly squandered his $350,000 signing bonus. In March 1983, he even reported the bookbreaker who threatened him to the FBI, but was still suspended by the NFL for 13 months. He returned the following year before being released by the Colts due to sports betting rumors. Outside of football, Schlichter was also involved in other schemes and was ultimately thrown in prison in 2012.