Official betting is any wager that is made on a game in which the player is participating. The rules surrounding this type of wager are very stringent and the penalty for breaking them is severe. The FA and betting companies are always on the lookout for any attempts to fix games, breach betting rules or pass on inside information. Anyone caught doing so will face a football ban.

The participants covered by this worldwide ban are players, team officials (including coaches and managers), tournament officials, the immediate family members of such individuals and any person who is associated with a club, team, league or athletic association, or has a management or ownership role. They are also prohibited from accepting, offering or agreeing to accept a bribe with the intention of fixing a match or event within a match. They are also prohibited from using or passing on inside information for betting purposes – such as injury or team selection news that would not be publicly available.

All bets on regular season games must be settled prior to all scheduled playoff games being played for bets to have action. Exceptions are: (1) if a specific game is rained out and will not be rescheduled for any reason, or (2) if the total is already determined from an officially shortened game. In these cases, the bet will be void. In addition, if a game is halted for any reason in the middle of an inning, all bets on first-inning totals will be void unless settlement has been determined from an official shortened game.