Kian Harratt's FA ban is a joke, Huddersfield gambled on his own team to LOSE

KIAN HARRATT'S four-month ban for breaching FA betting rules 484 times is an absolute joke.

The Huddersfield striker has come off lightly and for me his penalty sends the wrong message.

By comparison, Brentford's Ivan Toney was given an eight-month ban for 232 breaches of FA rules.

But what is significant about Harratt's suspension is that he is currently recovering from surgery for a hamstring injury, so would have been sidelined anyway.

The punishment should certainly come into effect when he is found fully fit to play by an independent medical expert.

As things stand, his punishment is limited to the shame of being caught. Harratt will be ashamed because he bet his own team to LOSE nine times.

The striker is 21 and has been betting on matches since he was 18 – and young people make mistakes.

He quickly held up his hands and said he was an honest cop, but that doesn't excuse what he did.

I'm tired of people treating players in their early twenties as children.

He's not a child, he's an adult and should be able to tell right from wrong.

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Harratt himself acknowledged that when he came through the ranks at Huddersfield, he was informed by the club about the dangers of betting and the fact that professional footballers are banned from betting on football.

It couldn't have been made clearer to him that it's not allowed – yet he ignored that and opened a gambling account and bet on anything he wanted… including betting on his own team to lose, which is shocking.

Certainly no club wants a player in its ranks who is willing to let the opponent win.

If I were chairman of Huddersfield I would fire him.

How can he walk into that locker room and be seen as a loyal member of the team when everyone knows he bet on them losing?

It is important that he receives the appropriate sanctions to deter others.

So it is ridiculous to simply have to sit out for a short period of time, when he would most likely be injured anyway.

What kind of message does it send to ambitious kids who want to be footballers, that one day you can bet on your own team losing and just get a slap on the wrist?

But for me there is a broader point about gambling and the football industry. Players are raised surrounded by a gambling culture, with bookmakers pouring millions of pounds commercially into the sport every year.

Whether that is by sponsoring a kit, buying the billboards around a stadium or even having a site named after a gambling company.

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Everywhere you look in football there is a reference to a betting company.

Even the EFL itself is sponsored by Sky Bet.

So it goes without saying that footballers are exposed to gambling.

It seems a bit hypocritical to ban players from gambling and yet expect them to promote gambling companies.

Understandably, players like Toney and Harratt were tempted to gamble themselves.

But the laws are very clear and so much work is done to train footballers.

So there are no excuses.

Harratt knew he was breaking the rules, but he continued anyway.

The punishment should have fit the crime.