Daniel Sturridge has broken his silence after it was confirmed that he had been handed a four-month ban from football and a £150,000 fine by the FA.
It was announced yesterday that the player had terminated his contract at Turkish club Trabzonspor by mutual consent and it was assumed that he was panning a move to the MLS. However, the news broke earlier today that he was actually set to be banned from all football activities for four months, ending his season prematurely.
Sturridge was accused of giving inside information to his brother about a potential move to Sevilla in January of 2018, who would eventually try to place a bet on the transfer. While the move would ultimately not come to fruition, it was still deemed to be a breach of rules by the FA.
The player was originally given an eight-week suspension, six of which was suspended, as well as a £75,000 fine by an independent commission. That verdict was appealed, leading to today's announcement.
The player has now spoken about the punishment, posting a video on his YouTube channel.
I just want to say it's been a very long drawn out process over the last couple of years, and difficult to concentrate on my football. It's also been a crazy few days, to be fair.
I just want to say that 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 betting companies and the process of people being able to place bets on people moving clubs has to be stopped.
Although the appeal panel had recognised that I hadn't bet, nobody else had bet, I was still charged.
It was very disappointing and upsetting for me to hear the news that the appeal panel had overturned the original, highly-qualified, panel's ruling.
Devastating for me, I'm absolutely gutted about it. My season's over.
The former Liverpool striker would thank Trabzonspor for his time at the club, saying he had his contract terminated as he did not want to be paid while unavailable to play due to the ban.
