Ghana international Alexander Djiku has had his ban for breaking betting regulations in France lightened.
On December 19, the RC Strasbourg centre-back received a one-match suspension after investigations by the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) established that he and 75 other players, coaches and team officials had been involved in betting during the 2020/21 season.
Specifically, Djiku placed a bet of a small amount (20 euros) on a LaLiga match involving Real Madrid in July 2020, which is in breach of LFP rules which prohibit professional footballers from gambling on games.
The 28-year-old Qatar 2022 Fifa World Cup campaigner with Ghana was thus suspended from Strasbourg’s Ligue 1 resumption game away to leaders Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday, December 28.
But his club, which had requested conciliation with the Comité National Olympique et Sportif Français (CNOSF), won its case and the re-examination of the ruling.
On Boxing Day, the LFP reversed its decision to impose a firm one-match suspension on Djiku by transforming it into a suspended match.
The amount he staked, the foreign nature of the object of the bet (the Spanish championship) and the fact that this bet fell within the framework of a partnership with a sports betting site would have prompted the LFP to show leniency towards the player.
