How gambling ruined Michael Chopra's blooming football career

Blackpool player Michael Chopra, who is a witness in a 750,000-pound cocaine trial at Newcastle Crown Court, has told jurors that he was pursued by loan sharks.

According to the BBC, prosecutors allege money found in the foot-well of a car was drug money, but jurors heard it belonged to Chopra and was due to be paid to creditors.

The striker, who estimated he had lost about 2 million pounds through gambling, is a witness at the trial of four men charged in relation to an alleged drug factory in northeast England.

A 50,000-pound stash of money at the centre of a drugs bust was a debt repayment from a footballer who had a gambling habit, the court heard, according to the report.