GOAL - James Westwood

Kieran Trippier has been banned from football for ten weeks and hit with a £70,000 fine after breaking betting rules.

Trippier was found guilty of misconduct by the English Football Association after an investigation into alleged gambling offences occurring in July 2019, which was carried out by an independent regulatory commission.

The charges were first brought to the Atletico Madrid defender - who moved to the Spanish capital from Tottenham last year - back in May, and he withdrew from England's squad for a UEFA Nations' League clash against Denmark in October to attend an FA hearing regarding the offences.

It was orginally claimed that Trippier had breached seven betting laws, and four of those instances have now been proven, with a two-and-a-half month suspension and a hefty financial penalty dished out to the 30-year-old on Wednesday.

An official statement on the FA's website reads: "Kieran Trippier has been suspended for ten weeks and fined £70,000, following misconduct in relation to breaches of The FA’s Betting Rules.

"The Atletico Madrid defender denied seven alleged breaches of FA Rule E8(1)(b), which were said to occur during July 2019, and requested a personal hearing.

"An independent regulatory commission was appointed to hear the case, with four of the alleged breaches found proven and three dismissed during a subsequent personal hearing.

"The independent regulatory commission’s written reasons for its decisions and the associated sanction will be published in due course.

"The suspension, which includes all football and football-related activity, is effective worldwide from today (Wednesday 23 December 2020) following an application to FIFA."

Trippier will be forced to miss a total of 12 games for Atletico in the second half of the season, including the first leg of a round-of-16 Champions League tie against Chelsea at Wanda Metropolitano on February 23.

He will be available for selection again in time for a derby clash against Real Madrid on March 7 though, by which time Diego Simeone will hope his team are still ahead of their rivals in the Liga title race.

Trippier played the full 90 minutes of a 2-0 victory away at Real Sociedad on Tuesday night, which ensured that Atletico remain three points clear of Madrid at the top of the table with a game in hand heading into the winter break.