On March 2, former Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge was given a four-month suspension, banning him from any football activity for betting violations. He was also fined £150,000.

In addition to the banning, Sturridge’s current club, the Turkish side Trabzonspor, has terminated his contract as part of a mutual agreement between the two sides.

Sturridge initially faced a number of charges alleging that he had passed insider information over a potential transfer back in January 2018. This information was passed to close friends and relatives, who then used it to make wagers.

An independent regulatory commission found him guilty and issued the an inital 6 week penalty against him, with four weeks suspended. However, the FA appealed the decision, arguing that the commission had “misapplied rules in relation to the use of inside information and made findings of fact which could not be sustained.” During the recent hearing, they were able to prove two additional charges that were initially dismissed.

On February 26, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) passed down a lifetime ban on two players of the Laos national team who were found guilty of fixing matches. The two players, Khampheng Sayavutthi and Lembo Saysana, were found in violation of article 66.1 of the AFC Disciplinary and Ethics Code.

“Both players were found guilty of conspiring to manipulate the result of an international match between the Hong Kong and Laos national teams on October 5, 2017,” the AFC’s stated. Hong Kong won that match, defeating Laos by a final score of 4-0.

In assigning the lifetime ban, the AFC restated its firm committment to combat corruption in sports. “The latest sanction demonstrates that the AFC is fully committed to its zero-tolerance policy on match-fixing and that its regulations provide for tough sanctions for match manipulation.”

The AFC also stated that they had informed the Lao Football Federation (LFF) and the international football governing body, FIFA, of the lifetime ban. No word was provided as to whether the two had any recourse to appeal the lifetime suspensions.

Hard as it may be to believe, this is the last Tuesday of college basketball’s regular season. In fact, there are several mid-major conference tournaments getting underway Tuesday.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

Arguably the biggest NCAA Tournament bubble game of the night is from the SEC as Mississippi State (19-10) visits South Carolina (17-12) – by all accounts both are on the wrong side of the bubble currently. The winner here would seem to have the upper hand in terms of a potential bid with all other things being equal, and that’s definitely the Bulldogs if they prevail.

That’s because MSU beat visiting South Carolina 79-76 on February 19. Bulldogs star Reggie Perry had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. USC was down 11 with under four minutes left and got as close as a point but could never draw even. The Gamecocks are -3 this time, and both teams are 10-5 ATS in their past 15 this year.

Professional golf now has its first approved ‘betting content platform’ after the PGA TOUR decided to directly profit from legal US wagering.

On Monday, the PGA TOUR announced the launch of GolfBet, a golf-focused betting content platform powered by The Action Network, the sports analysis and media firm backed by the Chernin Group. The deal runs through the end of the 2021 PGA TOUR season.

Golfbet.com is currently redirecting visitors to a ‘golf’ page on the Action Network’s main site that features golf news, instructions on ‘how to bet on golf,’ golf betting terms, schedules, betting odds and reviews of sportsbooks in betting-friendly US states.

Action Network CEO Patrick Keane called GolfBet a “one-stop platform where fans can get all of the most relevant and up-to-date betting information.” The site, which the TOUR says will be “free for the foreseeable future,” will feature content from TOUR digital platforms, including video rights, as well as official TOUR data (via the TOUR’s deal with IMG Arena).