World football governing body, FIFA, has suspended the 10-weeks ban slammed on Atletico Madrid defender Kieran Trippier. The English Football Association (FA) banned and fined the England international £70,000 for violating betting regulations.
The 30-year-old right-back allegedly revealed players’ positions to gamblers before they were officially made public which is a breach of betting rules. Though Kieran Trippier had insisted that he did not commit the offense, he was not spelled by the English FA. The 10-weeks ban slammed on the defender took effect on December 23.
Trippier was said to have committed the offense in July 2019 which happens to be the period he was still playing for Tottenham Hotspur. The offense has been committed before he moved to Spanish La Liga side Atletico Madrid for €22 million in the summer of 2019.
However, the case remained uncovered until it was brought against him in May 2020 when Kieran Trippier had already established himself as an important player at Atletico Madrid.
The case dragged on until the commencement of the 2020-2021 season in which the defender has continued to be an almost indispensable figure at the club. Before the judgment came, he had played in all the club’s league games.
Due to how important he is to the Spanish club, the club had to appeal the judgment, saying the ban slammed on the defender would affect the club which did not play any part in the alleged crime.
“We think it’s unfair and we hope it can be revised because of the damage done to Atletico,” the club’s coach Diego Simeone said after the ban.
“Atletico obviously have absolutely nothing to do with this situation so we hope it can be re-assessed in some way, because while the FA benefits from this, Atletico is harmed by it and has nothing to do with it.”
Afterward, a FIFA statement issued on Sunday, January 3, 2021, announced that the ban has been suspended pending the outcome of the appeal.”Following the appeal and, specifically, the request for provisional measures lodged by the club Atletico Madrid, the FIFA Appeal Committee has approved to stay the extension of the suspension against Kieran Trippier until the procedure is over before the FIFA Appeal Committee”, the statement read.
Before the ban was halted today, Kieran Trippier had already missed Atletico Madrid 1-0 win over Getafe on Wednesday, December 30, 2020. The England international might also miss the club’s league game against Alaves later today, at 16:15 because his name was already excluded from the club’s matchday squad before FIFA’s announcement.
📋 Your first 𝙨𝙦𝙪𝙖𝙙 𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩 of 2021 ⤵️
— Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish) January 2, 2021
🔴⚪ #AúpaAtleti | ⚽ #AlavésAtleti pic.twitter.com/fbgkhPo3dC
If the 10-weeks ban was not suspended, the defender would have missed at least 14 matches in all competitions. Hence, the suspension of the ban would enable him to play in the club’s Champions League last-16 first-leg tie against Chelsea in February.
The continuation of the betting violation case against Kieran Trippier will resume on March 1, 2021. If Atletico win the appeal, their defender who still has two years left on his contract will continue to remain available for them. But if they don’t, the defender would be forced to serve the remaining weeks in his 10-weeks ban.
