by Anton Johan
After English side's goalkeeper Robert Green's error in last week's World Cup game against the United States, betting markets opened on whether Capello would stick with the goalie in the match against Algeria on Friday, or replace him.
While many believed that the boss would keep Green in his position, bookies had to place a suspension on these betting markets after an unusually large number of wagers arrived indicating that Capello would be using David James instead.
The Daily Star News reports that the flood of bets was received 24 hours before Capello made his official announcement regarding the change.
Book makers, fearing that they were victims of a sting, launched an inquiry into the suspicious betting patterns after suspending markets.
The Football Association would not comment on the suspicions.
On Thursday evening, according to the newspaper, William Hill received a flood of new World Cup bets on James replacing Green in the England versus Algeria match.
The group said that most of the bets came from the Greater London, Channel Islands and Cardiff regions, and that bets of up to £2,000 had been placed with odds of 11-4.
"Several three figure bets were staked and one punter tried to bet £2,000," said a spokesperson for William Hill. "These are not the type of bets we normally see on a market of this nature and we closed the book."
What heightened suspicions was the fact that the bookie favourite (Robert Green at 4-6) saw very little cash staked on it.
Ladbrokes only had this to say about the possible betting malfunction: "Good luck to those customers who cottoned on before we did."
