As the Football Association announced yesterday that it will investigate allegations that four Premiership managers have had bets on top-flight matches, which is against FA rules, a major bookmaking firm denied the gamblers in question had done anything wrong.

The original allegations were made by a former employee of the Gibraltar-based bookmaker, Victor Chandler, and included a claim that one manager gambled £12m on a variety of sports bets in one year alone, racking up losses of £415,000.