England Internationalist Faces 10 Week Ban for Betting Infringements

by Glenn Baird - December 23, 2020

Atletico Madrid and England defender, Kieran Trippier, has been banned from playing football for 10 weeks following an investigation by the English Football Association that found he had breached their betting rules.

The allegations first came to light back in May of this year, at which point Trippier denied any wrong-doing.

Back in May the FA said the right-back “has been charged with misconduct in relation to alleged breaches of The FA’s Betting Rules, specifically in relation to Rule E8(1)(a)(ii) and Rule E8(1)(b), during the period of July 2019”.

Rule E8(1)(a) states that “a participant shall not bet, either directly or indirectly, or instruct, permit, cause or enable any person to bet on (i) the result, progress, conduct or any other aspect of, or occurrence in or in connection with, a football match or competition; or (ii) any other matter concerning or related to football anywhere in the world, including, for example and without limitation, the transfer of players, employment of managers, team selection or disciplinary matters.”

Rule E8(1)(b) in the FA’s betting rules relates to “where a participant provides to any other person any information relating to football which the participant has obtained by virtue of his or her position within the game and which is not publicly available at that time, the participant shall be in breach of this Rule where any of that information is used by that other person for, or in relation to, betting.”

The former England fullback was charged with 7 offences. The FA said: “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.”

Trippier can now appeal the ruling, having been found guilty of providing information that only an insider could have in order to placed informed bets.

The suspension will mean that Trippier will miss, at least, 14 Atletico Madrid matches, including their Champions League tie with Chelsea.

The offences took place in July 2019 around the time that the then Spurs defender was making his way to the Spanish capital.

In a statement issued when he was charged in May, Trippier said: “I want to make it clear that while a professional footballer, I have at no stage placed any football related bets or received any financial benefit from others betting.”