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Sutton reserve keeper Wayne Shaw has had his resignation accepted by the club following his pie-eating stunt against Arsenal.

The roly poly goalie was caught nibbling on a pasty during the FA Cup tie after a betting sponsor had offered odds of 8-1 for him to scoff live on air.

Manager Paul Doswell has spoken of his disappointment at the incident that has overshadowed Sutton's fairytale story.

“It’s been very disappointing," Doswell said. "I woke up this morning to this storm and criticism. It’s something we’ve dealt with quickly as a club.

“Wayne has offered his resignation to the chairman this afternoon and that’s been accepted. It’s a very sad end to what was a very, very good story.”

(Image: BBC)

Richard Watson, Gambling Commission enforcement and intelligence director, said: “Integrity in sport is not a joke and we have opened an investigation to establish exactly what happened.

“As part of that we’ll be looking into any irregularity in the betting market and establishing whether the operator has met its licence requirement to conduct its business with integrity.”

FA rules say players should not “instruct, permit, cause or enable” any person to bet the “result, progress, conduct or any other aspect of, or occurrence in, a football match or competition.”

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Players are also not allowed to give others insider details “any information relating to football” which has been “obtained by virtue of his or her position within the game”.

An FA spokesperson said: “We are investigating to establish whether there has been any breach of The FA rules relating to betting.”

But 23-stone Shaw insists he did no wrong and did not influence the bet by telling his teammates his intentions.

(Image: REUTERS)

“I think there were a few people," Shaw told Good Morning Britain. "Obviously we [Sutton's players] are not allowed to bet. I think a few of the mates and a few of the fans.

“It was just a bit of banter for them. It is something to make the occasion as well and you can look back and say it was part of it and we got our ticket money back.

(Image: BBC Sport)

(Image: REUTERS)

“A few of the lads said to me earlier on: 'What is going on with the 8-1 about eating a pie? I said: 'I don't know, I've eaten nothing all day, so I might give it a go later on,'" Shaw admitted after the game.

“As I say what is that, Sun Bets had us at 8-1 to eat a pie. I thought I would give them a bit of banter and let's do it. All the subs were on and we were 2-0 down."

(Image: BPI)

Shaw also went to the club bar at half time and was spotted vacuum cleaning the Gunners' dugout before the match.

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Boss Paul Doswell has slammed Shaw for his stunt. He said: “I think Wayne has become this global superstar on the back of being 23 stone. He’s made that a chance to make some more media coverage off the back of it.

“The reality is I don’t know [if Shaw did it for a bet] but it wouldn’t surprise me. I don’t think it shows us in the best light.”

The FA refused to comment on a potential investigation.

Lucas Perez and Theo Walcott netted for the Gunners to set up a quarter-final match-up with National League s

ide Lincoln.