England star Kieran Trippier told friend to “lump on” move to Atletico Madrid

Footballer Kieran Trippier told a friend to “lump on” him transferring from Tottenham to Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2019, according to an investigation by the Football Association (FA).

The WhatsApp conversation was published in a 46-page FA report after the defender was banned from football for 10 weeks and fined £70,000 for providing inside information which was used to place bets with unnamed bookmakers prior to his £25m transfer to the Spanish capital.

However, his ban has been suspended pending an appeal. He was also found not guilty on four other charges.

The investigation revealed Trippier was a participant in three WhatsApp groups called Final, Pint and Boys Promotion, with the latter established by the player himself.

Photo by Diego Souto/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images

One message from a friend, three days before the transfer was completed, questioned whether he should lump on Trippier joining Atletico Madrid, to which Trippier later replied: “Lump on if you want, mate.”

Members of the WhatsApp groups placed a series of bets on the transfer going ahead.

For example, on 15 July, friend Oliver Hawley put on two bets of £100 and £120 at odds 5/6. Roughly 20 minutes later he placed another two bets totalling £28.75 at 1/2.

That evening, Trippier messaged the Boys Promotion group to say the transfer was a “done deal”. Hawley subsequently placed a £300 bet at 4/9 while another friend staked £20 at 8/13.

The following day, the player’s move was agreed between Tottenham and Atletico Madrid.

The independent regulatory commission which heard the case dismissed Trippier’s assertion that the messages were just “banter”.

However, the commission noted that the betting involved on the transfer was “comparatively modest in scale” and that Trippier’s offending regarding the charges was very much “at the lower end of the scale in terms of his culpability”.

The case raised further debate as to whether bookmakers should continue to offer betting on player transfers or even managerial appointments.

Trippier’s done wrong, no doubt. But these are problems the betting industry can prevent happening. They should’ve got on the front foot much sooner & offered to stop trading them voluntarily for the common good. Like so many things, they won’t do that. They’ll wait to be forced. https://t.co/ShWKhctAtT

— Nick Goff (@nickgoff79) January 5, 2021

Last June, Betway pulled all player transfer markets, describing the offering a “grey area” in FA betting rules.

Four months earlier, former Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge was banned from all football-related activity for four months after he was accused of passing on inside information to his brother relating to a potential transfer to Sevilla in 2018.