Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez appears to be breaching the Football Association’s (FA) rules regarding promoting betting companies.
According to a press release from ‘bplay’, a sports betting website in his native Argentina, Martinez became a brand ambassador more than a year and a half ago.
A post on the bplay website from June 2024 introduces Martinez as an ambassador, referencing a commercial in which the 33-year-old starred. A new campaign launched in October 2025 features Martinez and his brother, Alejandro, a professional motorsport driver, wearing each other’s kit. This was to represent, according to bplay, how “sport can unite even those who travel different paths”.
World Cup winner Martinez is featured prominently on bplay’s website and social media output, with the online sporting betting and casino platform founded in 2020 and a regulated operator in Argentina.
Under FA regulations, professional footballers in England are strictly prohibited from personally promoting, advertising, or endorsing betting activity that they themselves are forbidden from engaging in.
FA rules state that “an individual participant, when acting in a personal capacity, shall not be permitted to advertise or promote any betting activity that the Participant is prohibited from engaging in by Rule E8.1, E8.2 or E8.4.” Those rules prevent players from betting in matches, leagues or competitions they are playing in or can influence.
As well as tournaments in South America and Europe, the bplay website offers odds on the Premier League, FA Cup and the Europa League, three of the four competitions Villa have featured in this season.
Aston Villa’s front-of-shirt sponsor is Betano, a UK-based gambling company (Dan Istitene/Getty Images)
When approached by The Athletic, the FA said it is aware of the matter. Villa, Martinez’s representatives and bplay did not respond to requests for comment.
In 2019, former Everton defender Yerry Mina was fined £10,000 and warned as to his future conduct after appearing in a TV advert in Colombia for Colombian betting company, Betjuego.
Villa’s current front-of-shirt sponsor is Betano, a UK sports betting and gambling site. The club signed a two-year deal ahead of the 2024-25 campaign, which will end this summer. That comes ahead of new Premier League rules coming into effect, which prohibit teams from having front-of-shirt gambling sponsors from the start of the 2026-27 season.
Following Ivan Toney’s suspension for betting offences, the FA has increased education given to players on gambling rules. This includes a short eLearning course for young players within academy systems, educating them on betting rules and its guidelines. Further mandatory awareness of the rules is raised through player workshops.