Kieran Trippier has been banned from football for 10 weeks and fined £70,000 by the English FA. The suspension comes after an independent regulatory commission found him to be in breach of The FA's betting rules.
The English defender denied all seven allegations of breaches that occurred in July 2019. He successfully had three dismissed but an independent commission found him guilty of the remaining four.
The ban is effective worldwide from today, December 23rd 2020.
Chelsea will now not have to face Atletic Madrid's first-choice right back when they travel to the Spanish capital in February.
Trippier played in all six of Madrid's group stage matches in the Champions League and has played 13 times in La Liga. He has established himself as a constant presence in Diego Simeone's tenacious defence.
He should be available for the return leg in Stamford Bridge in March.
England's next World Cup qualifying match is with San Marino on March 25th. This suspension won't impact his availability for that game.
England manager Gareth Southgate gave Trippier his debut in 2017 and the 30-year-old has accumulated 25 total caps since then.
Speaking to The Guardian in November, Trippier said that he had not placed any bets himself nor had he profited from bets made by other people. He instead focused on his mindset playing while the charges loomed over his head, "I can’t speak about anything about the FA case but I’m just thinking positive. I’m just concentrating on my football and trying to give my all like I’ve done throughout my whole career. My love’s always been there [for the game] and it always will be."
Trippier made the same denial when the chargers initially broke back in May, "I have fully complied with the FA’s investigation over the past several months on a voluntary basis and will continue to do so. 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."
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