Daniel Sturridge, the former Liverpool striker and England international, has been found guilty of breaking betting rules and banned from all football-related activity.

Sturridge was found guilty of supplying inside information for betting, asking his brother to bet on a possible move to Spanish club Sevilla. The 4-month ban follows a Football Association (FA) appeal over an initial 6-week ban. Sturridge’s fine was also doubled to £150,000 (€173,000).

There is a global betting ban on anyone involved with football, from Premier League level to level eight, from betting either directly or indirectly on any football-related matters. The ban also prohibits passing inside information to other bettors.

Reacting to the decision of the independent appeal board, the FA released a statement saying:

“The Regulatory Commission misapplied the FA’s Rules in relation to the use of inside information and made findings of fact which could not be sustained.”

Sturridge himself, who has now had his contract with top-flight Turkish club Trabzonspor terminated by mutual consent, responded to the decision in a YouTube video:

Meanwhile, in Laos…

Staying with football betting controversies, on the other side of the world the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has issued lifetime bans to two Laos national team players for match-fixing.

An AFC  disciplinary panel found Khampheng Sayavutthi and Lembo Saysana guilty of match-fixing and banned them from taking part in any football-related activities under its jurisdiction for life. The AFC has also said it will be asking world governing body FIFA to extend the bans worldwide.

AYO.NEWS says:

The Sturridge case is a tricky one. Whilst on the one hand, there has to be a zero-tolerance approach to corruption in football, and all sports, to safeguard the integrity and sustainability of the betting industry. On the other, it must be incredibly stressful and difficult for individual players to go through life having to watch every word they say at all times for fear of having their careers ruined.

AYO.NEWS says features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited.

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020.