BETTING firm BetVictor eventually decided to payout on a £625 bet after huge fan pressure on social media.
Punter David Reid had asked the bookie to price-up a custom bet on Twitter that saw him place £5 on Barcelona progressing, Lionel Messi scoring a penalty and Edinson Cavani hitting the woodwork.
Mr Reid was given odds of 125/1 – but despite all three of those events taking place, during Barcelona’s epic 6-1 win over Paris Saint-Germain, BetVictor refused to pay.
Their reason for voiding the bet was that, according to their rules, the ball must “come back into play” after hitting the woodwork for it to count.
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BetVictor statement
“Yesterday evening, we accepted a small number of bets on a #PriceItUp market, ‘Messi to score a penalty, Cavani to hit the woodwork and Barca to qualify’ at 125/1 in the Barcelona v PSG Champions League match.
“Customers request this type of tailored bet via Twitter and our Trading and Social Media teams price up the requests and reply to customers.
“We settled these particular bets as losers, as under our betting rules for #PriceItUp, which are listed on our website, we have the following rule regarding woodwork-related bets:
“For any bets involving players hitting the woodwork, the following rule will be applied: ‘The ball must make contact with the woodwork and come back in play from an attempt on the opponent’s goal during active play. Shots that hit the woodwork on their way into the goal will count.’
“As Cavani’s shot against the woodwork didn’t rebound back into play, we settled these bets in line with the above rule, which was designed to prevent ambiguity around shots that may or may not have skimmed the woodwork.
“However, we accept that in this case with #PriceItUp markets, these terms were not made clear within the individual bet, and, as such, have now settled all bets on this selection as winners. All of the customers involved have been individually contacted by us.
“Moving forward, to avoid any confusion, we will update the relevant rule and publish it ahead of our next #PriceItUp fixture, which is scheduled to be next Monday 13th March for the FA Cup 6th Round clash between Chelsea and Manchester United.
“We can confirm that any shot that hits any part of the woodwork will count going forward.
“We apologise for any confusion caused.”
After asking why the bet had been settled as not a winner”, the bookie responded on social media: “Sorry, Cavani didn’t hit the woodwork.”
Mr Reid said: “Yes he did?”
To which BetVictor added: “The ball went out of play after he hit the woodwork, under our rules, it has to stay in play mate.”
As scores of punters rightly pointed out, Cavani’s strike did stay in play – even if it was only for a fraction of a second.
The firm was hammered for the move.
One wrote: "The odds were 125/1 sorry, under our rules you can't win that much."
Another said: "Hey BetVictor did Messi have to do the Macarena dance before he took the pen so it counts? Con men."
One said: "What odds you giving on a PR own goal?"
And: "Disgrace, I won't be using BetVictor again."
Mr Reid tweeted that he would be "closing his account" - and many other punters followed suit.
After continued pressure, BetVictor eventually relented - although they called the move a "goodwill gesture" that also angered fans.
In a statement published early on Thursday morning, BetVictor appeared to deny they were in the wrong.
They wrote that the reason the bet was not paid out was because of their rules but paid out this time because "terms were not made clear within the individual bet".
The bookie also wrote that they were now changing the rules.
"We can confirm that any shot that hits any part of the woodwork will count going forward.
"We apologise for any confusion caused."
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