Premier League owner drawn into secret betting dispute
Internal dispute spills into public view
A long running disagreement inside Starlizard, one of Britain’s most data driven gambling advisory firms, has now escalated into a formal court case. The dispute centres on allegations that Brighton and Hove Albion owner Tony Bloom oversaw a covert betting structure worth hundreds of millions of pounds, according to reporting from The Times. While betting related controversies are not new to global sport, this case has gained attention because it involves a sitting Premier League owner and a company known for supplying analytical insights to major betting operators worldwide.
For readers unfamiliar with English football, the Premier League is one of the most watched sports competitions globally. As a result, any claim involving a club owner, especially one tied to betting behaviour, tends to carry regulatory, ethical and commercial implications far beyond the sport itself.
Claims over undisclosed networks
According to court filings cited by The Times, Bloom is identified as the alleged leading figure behind a betting syndicate valued at roughly £600 million. The claim was brought by former Starlizard analyst Ryan Dudfield, who argues he is owed £17.5 million in profits he says were generated by the group. Starlizard, established by Bloom and known for its statistical modelling systems, is described in the documents as the operational centre of the network.
The filings describe a membership group of more than 100 individuals invited personally by Bloom, with wagers allegedly placed through what Dudfield refers to as special account structures designed to route bets through different jurisdictions. The Times reports that one focal point of the case is the involvement of George Cottrell, a former aide to politician Nigel Farage. Cottrell, who previously served prison time in the United States for attempting to launder drug money, is said to have joined the group in 2022 and to have placed bets through offshore gambling platforms.
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Use of high profile accounts
According to The Times, the court documents also mention the occasional use of betting accounts linked to well known sports or business figures, though none of these individuals are believed to be former footballers. Bloom, due to his ownership of Brighton, received special permission from the Football Association in 2014 to maintain involvement in Starlizard. Even with that exemption, he is prohibited from betting on Brighton matches, Premier League fixtures or domestic cup competitions involving top flight clubs.
Both the FA’s annual audits and reviews by an external accounting firm have so far found no breaches of betting regulations.
A case that tests the boundaries between sport and gambling oversight
The High Court formally accepted Dudfield’s claim on November 20. Bloom, whose estimated wealth is around £1.3 billion, is widely credited with guiding Brighton from lower tier League One football to European competition, helping establish the club as one of the Premier League’s more innovative operations.
If the case proceeds, it could open rare public visibility into how sophisticated gambling networks function behind the scenes and how regulatory bodies attempt to monitor the shifting relationship between professional sport, data driven betting models and financial incentives. For readers outside the football world, the dispute underlines a broader issue faced by many sports, the challenge of keeping governance transparent at a time when betting markets and club ownership structures are increasingly intertwined.
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Sources, The Times, FA regulatory documents where referenced
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