July 19 – Former England and Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge has been banned for two weeks and fined £75,000 after being found guilty of breaching betting rules.
Sturridge, 29, was given a six-week ban, four of which were suspended, and is free to play again on July 31.
The English Football Association says it will appeal against the dismissal by an independent regulatory commission of various charges alleging he passed on inside information over a potential transfer in January 2018.
The FA argued the player had used “cynical determination” to help betting by others and any sanction shorter than a six-month suspension “would wholly fail to reflect the gravity of the case”.
The charges relate to the January 2018 transfer window when Sturridge completed a loan move to West Bromwich Albion. He had also been linked to Inter Milan and Sevilla and was alleged to have told his brother to place bets on these potential moves. He was found guilty of breaching charges three and four over providing inside information. He had faced a total of 11 charges.
Sturridge said: “I am pleased that nine of the 11 charges were dismissed and that the panel found me to be an honest and credible witness, and that my actions on one particularly difficult day were out of character. I am training hard and fully focused on the upcoming football season.”
Liverpool announced in June that Sturridge – who scored eight times in 26 appearances for England – would be leaving the club this summer at the end of his contract. In a statement, the FA said it “respectfully disagrees with the regulatory commission’s findings and will be appealing against the charges which were dismissed and the sanction which was imposed”.
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