Daniel Sturridge

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Daniel Sturridge and the FA ban that is no longer a ban

https://theathletic.com/1705066/2020/03/31/daniel-sturridge-fa-ban-betting-liverpool-turkey/

The decision to ban Daniel Sturridge for providing his brother with information about a potential transfer to Sevilla in 2018 should have been one of the longest delivered by the Football Association since the formation of the Premier League.

His punishment, enforced at the start of March, was for four months.

Considering the possibilities at Trabzonspor, the club he used to represent, in real terms that would have meant him missing as many as 14 games, including a cup final. 

Sturridge’s ban exceeded the penalties handed down to Joey Barton in 2012 (12 games for violent conduct), Paolo Di Canio in 1999 (11 for pushing a referee) and Luis Suarez in 2011 and 2013 (separate eight and 10-game bans for racism and biting). The longest? Eric Cantona’s nine months in 1995 for kung-fu kicking a spectator, a period that ultimately covered 32 Manchester United games.

Sturridge, it is fair to assume, has suffered reputational damage for his actions. It is also fair to say that the Football Association has other priorities at this moment. Yet is it fair that Sturridge’s penance for breaching betting rules, to the naked eye at least, won’t be that much of a punishment at all?

The FA confirmed to The Athletic yesterday that he will be free to play again from June 17. The global lockdown means he’ll have missed out on making just four Trabzonspor appearances — one of them played behind closed doors — since announcing his departure from the club shortly before his suspension was revealed.

A prevailing mood of apathy towards Sturridge’s providence is understandable but it might be different if, like say, Barton, Di Canio, Suarez or Cantona, his indiscretions were captured live on camera, or — indeed — if he was still a truly relevant footballer in an active sense. The details in the regulatory report certainly make for stark reading.

Should the Turkish authorities be able to conclude the current campaign, there is a chance that Sturridge may end up with some regrets on a professional level.

At Liverpool, he missed out on the title once when he was a key performer in Brendan Rodgers’ 2013-14 team. He was also involved last season when Jurgen Klopp took Liverpool even closer to a feat that has eluded the club since 1990. Both endings mean Sturridge’s only experience of featuring in a title-winning side was a decade ago when he was a back-up to a 29-goal Didier Drogba at Chelsea, starting two league games and scoring one goal.

That could have changed at Trabzonspor, who led the Super Lig table on goal difference when the competition was halted in the middle of the month. Should Turkey return to something like normality, he will only be able to imagine the celebrations that may follow in Trabzon, which has not witnessed a championship-winning team since 1984.

It is an ugly way of putting it but there are some footballers for whom coronavirus have increased their career chances. Joe Allen, for example, had been ruled out of Wales’ 2020 European Championship campaign with an achilles injury, but it is fair to assume he’ll be there in 2021.

Is Sturridge as fortunate? There are points to remember about what may or may not happen over the months to come — a period where nobody knows for certain when competitive football will be played again, or, indeed, whether the campaign will finish. Most signficantly for Sturridge, with the appetite for behind closed-door matches growing across Europe’s governing bodies, indeed, The Athletic understands free agents such as himself are unlikely to be able to sign for clubs until 2019-20 is officially over.

Only at the conclusion of this interrupted season would a new window open up and the calendar be amended accordingly, with authorities wary of the perils of sticking by the transfer system because they know it would go against existing rules and therefore jeopardise the integrity of each competition they have tried to save.

It has been suggested that Major League Soccer may be a convenient destination for Sturridge but he would face the same problem there given that their season has not been immune from coronavirus, lasting only two weekends before proceedings were stopped. In normal circumstances, the next transfer window in MLS would open on July 7 but that date is likely to shift towards another at some point later in the year.

Sturridge, then, will face challenges around travel restrictions depending on where the virus spreads and how trends change.

He will be 31 on September 1. Should he at the earliest opportunity find the urge to return to a game that has been cruel to him in terms of injuries, it is highly unlikely it will be on better terms than he expected.

Sturridge, it should not be forgotten, had served a six-week ban last summer (though four of those weeks were suspended) before the FA launched a successful appeal against an independent commission’s findings.

Even though his status in the game had taken a hit following the original sanction, Sturridge had clubs from across Europe, North America and the Middle East lining up to speak to him throughout the period, though representatives from Trabzonspor had been one of the first to contact him earlier in the year when it became clear there was no future for him at Anfield.

Ultimately, one way or another, his options will be a lot narrower than they were this time last year.

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Arrest warrant for Daniel Sturridge after he failed to pay missing dog reward

https://metro.co.uk/2023/10/12/arrest-warrant-issued-for-daniel-sturridge-over-missing-dog-reward-19654224/?ico=trending-module_tag_premier-league_item-2