American football star fired over girlfriend punch

Rice was suspended for two games in July when the incident first came to light

The NFL's Baltimore Ravens have terminated the contract of their star running back Ray Rice, after the release of a video which appears to show him striking his wife.

The video released by TMZ Sports shows Rice arguing with Janay Palmer, who was then his fiancee, inside a lift in an Atlantic City casino.

The couple hit each other before Rice is seen punching Ms Palmer in the face.

Another video released earlier showed Rice dragging Ms Palmer from the lift.

In July, the NFL suspended the running back for two games after the earlier video was made public.

The Ravens' move comes during the first week of the NFL's season. On Sunday Baltimore, working without their star running back, lost to the Cincinnati Bengals 23-16.

An NFL spokesman said he was not aware of the existence of the second video showing Rice striking Ms Palmer's face until Monday.

A few hours later the team released a statement saying, "The Baltimore Ravens terminated the contract of RB Ray Rice this afternoon."

Ray Rice was drafted by the Ravens in 2008 after playing at New Jersey's Rutgers University.

He was selected to three Pro Bowl teams and was a member of the Ravens' Super Bowl champion team during the 2012-13 season.