Former England striker Daniel Sturridge has been banned from football until June for breaking betting rules.
The ex-Liverpool player is suspended from all football and football-related activity until the end of June 17 after the Football Association successfully appealed against the initial punishment given to him last summer.
The 30-year-old was handed a two-week ban and £75,000 fine last June after an independent regulatory commission found he had given his brother inside information on a possible move to Sevilla during the January 2018 transfer window.
At the time, the FA revealed it had appealed against the commission’s findings as well as the sanctions imposed, believing them to be too lenient.
Daniel Sturridge has been suspended from all football and football-related activity from today until the end of 17 June 2020. Full statement: https://t.co/kwMosOgrNY. pic.twitter.com/7kMRfkQHxZ— FA Spokesperson (@FAspokesperson) March 2, 2020
And an independent appeal board has now found the commission misapplied the FA’s rules in relation to the use of inside information and made findings of fact which could not be sustained.
The appeal board has therefore proven two furthers charges and agreed with the FA that the penalty originally imposed on Sturridge was unduly lenient, increasing his effective playing ban from two weeks to four months.
His fine has also been doubled to £150,000 and FIFA has confirmed that the suspension will be of worldwide effect.
Sturridge earlier on Monday mutually terminated his contract at Turkish side Trabzonspor, whom he joined last August on a three-year deal.
