NRL referee Ashley Klein confirms gambling addiction

Top NRL referee Ashley Klein has confirmed he battled through a gambling addiction after a report suggested he had lost up to $400,000.

Klein, who was responding to a report in the SMH, said his gambling was only on horses and greyhounds and that he had never gambled on rugby league.

"Many years ago I developed a problem with gambling on horse racing and greyhound racing," Klein said in a statement.

"This gambling was not related to any betting on rugby league, and my job as a referee has never been impacted.

"I received help to deal with the problem and closed all associated betting accounts. This was a difficult period of my life but one which did not in any way influence my job as a match official."

Klein is set to referee State of Origin II on Wednesday in Melbourne, his 14th Origin in a row.

There is no suggestion Klein ever gambled on rugby league and the NRL said it was aware of his situation.

"The NRL first became aware of this matter in 2019, at which time it was investigated to the satisfaction of NRL management at the time," the NRL said in a statement.

"The NRL subsequently took appropriate steps to ensure there were no breaches of NRL rules and policies.

"At no stage has Ashley Klein's position as an NRL match official been impacted. The NRL takes proactive steps as a matter of course to provide education relating to rules and policy. Given this is an employment matter, it would not be appropriate to comment further."

NRL referees are banned from gambling on rugby league matches, but are free to gamble on other sports.

The issue comes after the AFL was forced to act when it was revealed earlier in the year that umpire Nick Foot was employed by Sportsbet as a racing analyst.