The Professional Footballers' Association of Ireland (PFAI) has backed St Patrick's Athletic midfielder Gary Dempsey, who this morning admitted to betting on his own club to lose in a game he was not involved in.  The players' union has urged the Inchicore club not to punish the player who, it claims, has not broken any regulations.

A Pat's statement released last night, in which the club announced that a first team player had been suspended amid an ongoing investigation, contradicts that assertion, saying "it is against Fifa and FAI regulations for any player to gamble on any match within their own league."

The difference of opinion would appear to arise in the interpretation of Rule 100 (Betting/Gambling) of the FAI rulebook, in which it states: "Anyone who directly or indirectly bets, instructs someone to bet on their behalf, provides others with confidential information or enables another person to bet for that participant's own benefit on a result, conduct or progress of a match or competition in which that person is participating or has control over the result, conduct or progress of a match or competition shall be subject to disciplinary sanctions."

PFAI general secretary Stephen McGuinness insists there is no case to answer.

"Gary Dempsey is a model professional who has made a minor error of judgment," he said today. "The PFAI cannot condone betting in matches in which a player is himself involved but it is important to distinguish between that and the current situation in which Gary was sitting in the stand and was no more in position to influence the result than any other spectator.

"While placing a bet in Gary's situation was inadvisable it was not contrary to any FAI regulation and in those circumstances, he should not be subject to any disciplinary sanction.  This whole incident is a storm in a teacup."

Speaking from the world players' union congress in Chile, McGuinness added: "I respect that St Patrick's Athletic have to investigate this matter but it's clear that Gary's momentary lapse of judgment does not merit any punishment and I will be speaking with (Pat's chief executive) Richard Sadlier immediately on my return on Monday."

Dempsey's admission came after rumours surfaced on Thursday evening about Pat's players betting against their own club. Sadlier held a team meeting that evening and opened an investigation which resulted in yesterday's suspension.

The FAI opened a separate inquiry on Friday morning, citing "suspected irregular betting patterns".

Admitting his part this morning, Dempsey said: "I placed a €20 bet on my club to lose in a double on an occasion which I was not playing and in which I had no influence on the game. I have never before or since placed a bet on my team to lose a game. The bet was in fact unsuccessful as the other team involved were beaten.

"I'm not aware and have never been made aware of any regulations that prohibit me from placing a bet on a match that I was not involved in. As far as I'm concerned this incident has been blown out of proportion and I am of course prepared to meet with club officials to sort this matter out.

"I apologise if my actions have caused distress to my team mates or my club."

The Pat's board is to meet tomorrow to discuss the progress of its ongoing investigation.

The events follow a miserable run of results for Pat's who were seen by many as serious title contenders.

A 2-0 win over UCD on Friday night was their first home win in five league games. Prior to that, they lost three of their previous four in a run that included defeats by two of the Premier Division's bottom three sides.

They were also well beaten by league champions Bohemians at Richmond Park in an FAI Cup semi-final last month.