News: Daniel Sturridge banned from football after breaching betting rules
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Former Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge has been banned from football worldwide on the heels of a betting offense. Sturridge, who was originally given a two-week ban in July, has been hit with a four-month suspension following an appeal by the FA. The board has also increased Sturridge’s original fine to £150,000.
Following the suspension, the 30-year-old’s three-year contract with Turkish club Trabzonspor was terminated by mutual agreement. In a recent YouTube video, Sturridge said that he was uncomfortable receiving wages from Trabzonspor when he was unable to contribute. “My season is over. I feel uncomfortable and don’t think it’s the right thing for me to continue accepting wages from a team I can’t contribute to,” he said. “I’m going to continue to campaign for professional footballers to be able to speak to their families and close friends freely without the real risk of being charged. The appeal panel recognized I hadn’t bet and nobody else had bet, but I was still charged.”
Sturridge faced a number of charges, including that he passed on information about potential transfers at the beginning of 2018. When passing its judgement, the FA stated that the commission’s initial decision misapplied rules pertaining to insider information and made erroneous findings of fact. As a result, the board found Sturridge guilty of two further charges of transferring information, which had originally been dismissed. In a statement, the FA said: “The Appeal Board agreed with the FA that the penalty originally imposed on Mr Sturridge was unduly lenient. It therefore increased his playing ban from two weeks to four months.”
Sturridge has been banned from playing professional football until 18 June. The commission found that the striker provided his brother with information about a possible move to Spanish side Sevilla during the January 2018 transfer window. Sturridge said that he was devastated by the decision, and that he believes the case was overblown and misconceived. Sturridge also spoke against the practice of placing bets on players moving clubs. “A lot of people don’t realize that they can place bets on a whole variety of things, from players moving clubs to who will win this year’s Oscars,” commented betting expert from thepunterspage.com. “Those who can predict club negotiations and player movements can make quite a lot on the latest transfers.”
In June 2019, Liverpool announced that Sturridge would be leaving the club at the end of his contract. He subsequently joined Turkish champions Trabzonspor, a club for which he scored seven goals in 16 appearances.