Kieran Tripped over FA’s Betting Rules, Banned for 10 Weeks

England defender Kieran Trippier has been banned for 10 weeks after breaching the Betting Rules of the Football Association (FA). The former Tottenham Hotspur player who took part in the 2019 Champions League Final before joining Atletico Madrid has also been slapped with a £70,000 fine for the violations related to betting irregularities linked to his move to the Spanish team.

Sharing Move Information

Trippier was charged with 7 breaches of the rule which forbids people inside the game to use information unavailable to the public and pass it to others to be used for sports betting purposes. The 30-year-old Atletico Madrid player strenuously denied allegations, stating he did neither place any bets himself, nor profit from other person’s bets.

The personal hearing requested by Kieran Trippier in front of the independent commission which the FA scheduled for October near an international game with Denmark so that he could not feature in the game, did not help his cause as the commission found him guilty of 4 out of the 7 alleged breaches related to FA’s Rule E8 (1)(b) and dismissed the other 3.

“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.”

Rule E8(1)(b)

Atletico Will Miss Trippier

As a result, Kieran Trippier is facing 10 weeks away from football, running up to and including February 28, meaning he is set to miss 11 La Liga games, at least one in the Copa del Rey, as well as the first leg of the Champions League last-16 tie at home to Chelsea. The player will also pay a £70,000 fine.

Kieran Trippier has the right to appeal the sanction which the FA, upon studying the full written reasons from the independent commission, is unlikely to extend.

Since his move from Tottenham, Trippier established himself in the Atletico starting 11, not having missed a single minute so far, and the punishment comes hard on Trippier’s team. The fact that the player will be available for the Madrid derby on March 7 is no consolation for the team which currently sits at the top of La Liga.

The sanction imposed for betting irregularities on Trippier follows a similar one slapped on Daniel Sturridge, who was initially banned for 6 weeks, with the final 4 weeks suspended, and fined £75,000 in July 2019 after an independent commission found him guilty of providing his brother with inside information on a potential move from Liverpool to Sevilla in 2018.

The FA found the sanction too lenient and requested a 6-month worldwide ban, which led to an independent appeal board’s decision in favor of the FA imposing a 4-month ban on Sturridge and have his initial fine doubled.