Barton claims that half of all players may be betting in secret

The FA has suffered a legal defeat that will allow some club owners free rein to gamble on football, it has been revealed.

Investigations by The Times have established that a recent ruling has cleared the way for club owners to bet on football, and that large numbers of players continue to defy a ban on gambling on the sport.

The FA is reviewing its regulations partly in response to being forced to drop charges of betting against Maxim Demin, Bournemouth’s multimillionaire Russian owner. Demin’s lawyers won a ruling that because he is neither a chairman nor a director of the club he is not “a participant” subject to FA rules, as he is not involved in the day-to-day running of the club and so