Daniel Sturridge's career has been left in tatters after the former England striker was banned until June and fined £150,000.
The bombshell came after the Football Association appealed the previous sentence handed down by an Independent Commission after Sturridge was found guilty of breaching betting rules.
It came just hours after Turkish club Trabzonspor confirmed that they had terminated his contract just six months into a three year deal.
But Mirror Sport can reveal that Sturridge, 30, decided himself to end the contract and there was no escape clause but felt it was the honourable thing to do because he did not want to be earning money while not contributing to the club.
Sturridge is unsure about his next career move but this latest development is a bitter blow for the ex-Liverpool striker who now has no right to appeal but has always pleaded his innocence.
Sturridge released a statement via his own You Tube channel and said: “Devastating for me, I'm absolutely gutted about it. My season's over.
"I feel uncomfortable, and I just don't think it's the right thing for me to continue accepting wages from a team that I can't contribute to due to being banned.
“I just want to say it's been a very long drawn out process over the last couple of years, and difficult to concentrate on my football. It's also been a crazy few days, to be fair.
"I just want to say that 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.
"The betting companies and the process of people being able to place bets on people moving clubs has to be stopped.
"Although the appeal panel had recognised that I hadn't bet, nobody else had bet, I was still charged.
"It was very disappointing and upsetting for me to hear the news that the appeal panel had overturned the original, highly-qualified, panel's ruling.”
The FA were unhappy last July when Sturridge was found guilty on two charges of breaking betting rules surrounding a potential transfer in January 2018 and whether he passed on information about possible moves.
Sturridge was given a £75,000 fine and banned for six weeks - four of which was suspended - after the Independent Commission found him guilty of just two of a raft of charges.
Sturridge was alleged to have instructed his brother, Leon, to bet on his possible transfer to Sevilla, providing him with inside information – although he never moved to the La Liga club and later went to West Brom.
The FA appealed the findings and also the severity of the punishment and now a further two counts have been proven against Sturridge.
Sturridge had hoped to resurrect his career in Turkey but the FA ban is a worldwide ban until June 17.
The FA have now published the full report which includes the full text and exchanges which they allege show insider knowledge was used before bets were placed by family members.
The FA statement said: “As will be clear, The FA takes any form of betting misconduct and the provision of inside information very seriously.
“In relation to the sanction, the Appeal Board agreed with The FA that the penalty originally imposed on Mr Sturridge was unduly lenient and therefore increased his effective playing ban from two weeks to four months. The Appeal Board also doubled the fine to £150,000.”
