Harry Redknapp, the former Premier League football manager, admitted he discovered that his players bet on the result of one of their own matches, in contravention of Football Association rules.

Redknapp was filmed by undercover reporters discussing a match on which “the lads” had “all had a spread bet” on the scoreline. His players allegedly bet on themselves to win the match, and one of them allegedly told a football agent to “remortgage your house” because the odds were favourable.

The agent later claimed that the opposing team’s players had also bet on the match. Bookmakers had given long odds on Redknapp’s side winning, possibly because they assumed he would field a weakened side as his team had nothing left to play for that season. In fact, Redknapp put out a strong side that went on to win easily.

FA rules strictly forbid players from betting on games in which they are involved, and managers are expected to report any such misconduct to the FA as soon as they hear of it. Redknapp is not believed to have raised the matter with the FA.

There is no suggestion of any criminality on Redknapp’s part, or that he knew the opposition players were betting, or that he was aware his own players had bet on the match when the game kicked off.