Atletico Madrid defender Kieran Trippier has been suspended from football for 10 weeks for breaking the FA’s Betting Rules.
Trippier was originally charged in May for offences dating back to July 2019, shortly before he joined Atleti from Tottenham.
After a lengthy appeal process, the FA finally confirmed that the England international had breached gambling regulations.
“Kieran Trippier has been suspended for ten weeks and fined £70,000, following misconduct in relation to breaches of the FA’s Betting Rules,” a statement read.
“The Atletico Madrid defender denied seven alleged breaches of FA Rule E8(1)(b), which were said to occur during July 2019, and requested a personal hearing. An independent regulatory commission was appointed to hear the case, with four of the alleged breaches found proven and three dismissed during a subsequent personal hearing.
“The independent regulatory commission’s written reasons for its decisions and the associated sanction will be published in due course. The suspension, which includes all football and football-related activity, is effective worldwide from today (Wednesday 23 December 2020) following an application to FIFA.”
FA Rule E8(1)(b) states that a player cannot provide information which is not publicly available to someone outside of football if that information is then used for gambling purposes.
Daniel Sturridge was hit with a similar charge in 2018, when it was discovered that he had instructed his brother to bet on him sealing a loan move to Sevilla. Sturridge was initially handed a six-week ban for the offence but after an FA appeal, this was extended to a four-month suspension. This led to Sturridge cancelling his contract with Turkish side Trabzonspor last March and he remains a free agent.
Prior to this setback, Trippier had been enjoying a fine season for Atletico. He has not missed a single second of Los Rojiblancos’ campaign so far, helping Diego Simeone’s side climb to the top of the La Liga table and progress through their Champions League group.
