18-month ban from FA forces Joey Barton into 'early retirement' 
The FA have suspended Joey Barton from "football and all football activity" for 18 months after he admitted a misconduct charge in relation to betting. The Burnley midfielder was alleged to have placed 1,260 bets over a 10-year period, football's governing body announced.Barton announced that the decision effectively forces him into an "early retirement", but confirms he will be appealing the ban. "I am very disappointed at the harshness of the sanction. The decision effectively forces me into an early retirement from playing football," Barton said on his website."To be clear from the outset here this is not match fixing and at no point in any of this is my integrity in question. "I accept that I broke the rules governing professional footballers, but I do feel the penalty is heavier than it might be for other less controversial players.
"I have fought addiction to gambling and provided the FA with a medical report about my problem. I’m disappointed it wasn’t taken into proper consideration.
"I think if the FA is truly serious about tackling the culture of gambling in football, it needs to look at its own dependence on the gambling companies, their role in football and in sports broadcasting, rather than just blaming the players who place a bet."
"Having consulted with my friends and lawyers, I have decided I will be appealing against the length of the ban. I hope that I shall be afforded a fair hearing by an independent Appeal Panel."
Joey Barton has been suspended from football and all football activity for 18 months with immediate effect after he admitted an FA misconduct charge in relation to betting.
It was alleged that between 26 March 2006 and 13 May 2016, he placed 1,260 bets on the result, progress, conduct or any other aspect of, or occurrence in, football matches or competitions in breach of FA Rule E8.
Following the Independent Regulatory Commission hearing, the Burnley midfielder was also fined £30,000 and warned as to his future conduct.
Written Reasons will follow in due course.
– FA STATEMENT
http://www.itv.com/news/2017-04-26/fa-suspend-joey-barton-from-all-football-activity-for-18-months/ [ 此帖被羅力亞在2017-04-26 20:28重新編輯 ]
