The English Football Association has handed Former Liverpool and Chelsea striker Daniel Sturridge a worldwide football ban until June and fined £150,000 after being found guilty of breaching the FA’s gambling regulations.

The champions league winner with Liverpool last season who just terminated his contract with Turkish side Trabzonspor earlier Monday was handed a two-week ban and a £75,000 fine in July after a regulatory commission ruled that he had provided his brother with “inside information” over a bet regarding his possible transfer to Sevilla.

The FA considered the decision to be too simple and lodged a formal appeal, and an independent appeal board has now found that the regulatory commission misapplied the FA’s rules. The Eglish man has now been suspended from all football and football-related activity from today been Monday 2nd of March until the end of 17 June 2020, said an FA statement on Monday.

Sturridge says he is “devastated” after being banned from football for four months for breaching betting rules.

He was originally given a six-week ban last summer, four of them suspended, but the FA appealed against the findings of an independent commission.

An appeal board also doubled the 30-year-old’s fine to £150,000.

Sturridge’s contract with Turkish side Trabzonspor had been terminated by mutual agreement earlier on Monday.

In a video posted on his YouTube account Sturridge said it had been “a crazy few days” after the “disappointing and upsetting” decision ended his season.

He added: “I just want to say it’s been a very long and drawn-out process over the last couple of years and difficult to concentrate on my football.

“I’m going to continue to campaign for professional footballers to be able to speak to their families and close friends freely, without the real risk of being charged.

“I feel the betting companies and the practice and process of people placing bets on players moving clubs has to be stopped.”

He thanked Trabzonspor but said he felt “uncomfortable” continuing to receive wages from the club because he was not able to “contribute”.