Liverpool and England striker Daniel Sturridge is facing an investigation into whether he broke the Football Association (FA’s) rules on betting.
Sturridge has been asked to explain alleged breaches of the FA code of conduct regarding betting, which is strictly prohibited under the organisation’s rules.
The rule in question is E8, which is addressed to all FA registered players, managers, coaches, and club staff and prevents them from betting on any event or outcome associated with a football match. According to the FA, Sturridge has also been accused of an alleged offence of passing information regarding football betting markets to third parties, in breach of policy 1B of rule E8.
Full co-operation
In a statement issued on Monday, Liverpool FC offered its support to Sturridge, and said that the player denied having been involved in the alleged breaches:
Daniel has given his full and unequivocal co-operation throughout this process and has assured the club he will continue to do so. Daniel has also stated categorically that he has never gambled on football.”
The club refrained from making any further comment, stating that they would allow the process to be carried out by the FA before addressing the issue further.
Sturridge has been given until Tuesday 20 November to provide a response to the charges, which it is reported relate to January 2018. He is the latest and most high-profile English football to be accused of breaking the FA betting rules, since the disciplinary hearings held into allegations against Joey Barton in 2017. The FA eventually banned Barton for five months, after it was found that the player had bet on over 1200 football matches between 2006 and 2016.
