Everton prospect Martin Sherif has escaped a ban after being fined for breaching Football Association betting rules.
The 20-year-old striker admitted having caused, permitted or enabled 61 bets to be placed on football matches between November 2024 and February this year, after being charged in August.
He must pay a £5,000 fine as a sanction but will not be forced out of action.
In his defence, the forward said he had not personally placed any of the bets, which totalled almost £2,000, but admitted they came from accounts in his name.
An independent regulatory commission hearing took into account Sherif’s prompt admission of guilt after he was charged in August, his cooperation with the procedure and his “genuine remorse”.
A former Netherlands youth international who played in the 2023 European Under-17 Championship, Sherif spent last season on loan at League One sides Rotherham and then Port Vale, his first spells away since arriving at the Everton setup in 2019.
He scored twice in each respective spells for the two clubs, and was part of the team that suffered relegation at Port Vale.
Sherif has never made a senior appearance for Everton but spent time in the first-team under David Moyes in February 2025 after much of his front line went down with injuries.
A brief beneficiary of other players’ fitness problems then, Sherif struggled with injuries himself last year, with his time at the New York Stadium ending prematurely as a result of hamstring issues, which caused three prolonged absences and resulted in Everton recalling him ahead of the January transfer window.
