England footballer Trippier charged over betting breach

England international footballer Kieran Trippier has been charged with misconduct in relation to alleged breaches of the English Football Association’s (FA) Betting Rules.

According to the FA, Trippier breached rules E8(1)(a)(ii) and E8(1)(b) in July 2019, but did not go into further detail on the alleged offences.

Trippier was playing for English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur until 17 July 2019, when he left to join Spanish La Liga side Atlético Madrid.

FA Betting Rule E8(1)(a) states a participant shall not bet or instruct, permit, cause or enable any person to bet on the result, progress, conduct or any other aspect of, or occurrence in or in connection with, a match or competition.

Rule E8(1)(a) also bans betting on any other matter concerning or related to football anywhere in the world, including player transfers, the employment of managers, team selection and disciplinary matters.

Meanwhile, Rule E8(1)(b) refers to where a participant provides to any other person information relating to football that they obtained as a result of of their position within the game and is not publicly available at that time.

The FA said that a participant would be deemed in breach of this rule when any of the information is used by that other person for, or in relation to, betting.

According to FA Rule E8, players, coaching staff, officials and club employees are not permitted to bet on games or other matters related to the club.

The FA said Trippier will have until 18 May to provide a response to the ruling.

In March, the FA suspended former England and Liverpool footballer Daniel Sturridge for breaching its gambling regulations, after his initial punishment was deemed too lenient.

In July 2019, Sturridge initially received a two-week ban, plus a further four suspended, after the independent regulatory commission found that he had instructed his brother to bet on the player joining Sevilla in the January 2018 transfer window. This transfer never materialised.

However, the FA appealed the ruling, calling for both a stronger sentence for the breaches of which Sturridge, and for the commission to reconsider its dismissal of eight other charges.

The additional charges that were dismissed all concerned Rule E8(1)(b) of the FA’s rules.