More from Joey Barton on his 18-month ban from football after admitting an FA charge in relation to betting.

"Given the money in the game, and the explosion in betting on sport, I understand why the rules have been strengthened, and I accept I have been in breach of them," said Barton.

"The FA has to be seen to lead on this, but need to accept there is a huge clash between their rules and the culture that surrounds the modern game, where anyone who watches football on TV or in the stadia is bombarded by marketing, advertising and sponsorship by betting companies, and where much of the coverage now, on Sky for example, is intertwined with the broadcasters’ own gambling interests.

"That means this is not an easy environment in which to try to stop gambling, or even to encourage people within the sport that betting is wrong. It is like asking a recovering alcoholic to spend all his time in a pub or a brewery. If the FA is serious about tackling gambling I would urge it to reconsider its own dependence on the gambling industry. I say that knowing that every time I pull on my team’s shirt, I am advertising a betting company."

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Some more quotes from Burnley midfielder Joey Barton on his 18-month ban from football.

"I accept I broke the rules governing professional footballers, but I feel the penalty is heavier than it might be for other less controversial players," said Barton.

"I have fought addiction to gambling and provided the FA with a medical report about my problem. I’m disappointed it wasn’t taken into proper consideration.

"If the FA is truly serious about tackling the culture of gambling in football, it needs to look at its own dependence on the gambling companies, their role in football and in sports broadcasting, rather than just blaming the players who place a bet." 

This story is moving quickly, and Joey Barton has just published a lengthy statement, external in response to his 18-month ban after admitting an FA charge in relation to betting.

"I am very disappointed at the harshness of the sanction," says 34-year-old Barton. "The decision effectively forces me into an early retirement from playing football.

"To be clear from the outset here this is not match fixing and at no point in any of this is my integrity in question."

After Burnley midfielder Joey Barton was banned from football for 18 months after admitting an FA charge in relation to betting, the Clarets have released the following statement...

"Joey Barton plans to appeal the length of this suspension. A full statement from the player will follow shortly.

"Burnley Football Club will make no further comment at this time."

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Burnley midfielder Joey Barton has been banned from all football activity for 18 months after admitting a Football Association charge in relation to betting.

An FA statement said: "It was alleged that between 26 March 2006 and 13 May 2016, he placed 1,260 bets on the result, progress, conduct or any other aspect of, or occurrence in, football matches or competitions in breach of FA Rule E8."

Barton has also been fined £30,000 and warned as to his future conduct.

A new city-based eight-team Twenty20 tournament has been given the go ahead to start in 2020.

Kevin Pietersen has tweeted Zafar Ansari his best wishes after the England and Surrey all-rounder announced his retirement aged just 25.

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Wales defender Neil Taylor has been suspended for two matches for his leg-breaking tackle on the Republic of Ireland captain Seamus Coleman.  

The decision comes following a meeting of FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee.

Taylor, 28, will miss two of Wales' World Cup qualifiers, against Serbia in June and Austria in September.

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Chris Baird and Darren Bent will have their contracts extended for another 12 months by Derby County.

They will now be with the club until the summer of 2018.

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Ryan Waters: Dean Ashton, forced to retire at 26. Good player, great shame. 

Jonathan Evans: Barry John retired at only 27 at the height of his career playing for Wales and the British & I Lions

PaStMiJo: Michael Jordan at 30, though he came back, twice.

Anthony Joshua says he is ready to silence his critics, which include BBC boxing pundit Steve Bunce, who doubt his ability to outbox Wladimir Klitschko.

Take a listen below or use this link.

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Richardson Mzaidume: Eric Cantona. It came out of the blue and was still young enough to continue playing.

Jav S: Utterly shocked by Ansari's retirement- wish him all the best though! To make football/rugby fans understand it's like Dier or Sinckler retiring so young!

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Zafar Ansari's retirement at the age of 25 has got us thinking.

Plenty of sportsmen and women have retired at a young age through injury or to pursue other ambitions.

We're talking Bjorn Borg when he first quit tennis at the tender age of 26 (he did return in the 90s) and Nico Rosberg leaving F1 at just 31-years-old.

Let us know about the sporting retirements that shocked you by tweeting #bbcsportsday, commenting on the BBC Sport Facebook page, external, or texting 81111.

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Surrey and England all-rounder Zafar Ansari has announced his retirement from all cricket with immediate effect.

He has been with Surrey since the age of eight and recently made his Test debut for England, playing against Bangladesh in October.

"While the timing may come as a surprise, I have always maintained that cricket was just one part of my life and that I have other ambitions that I want to fulfil," said the 25-year-old.

"With that in mind, I am now exploring another career, potentially in law, and to achieve this I have to begin the process now."

To celebrate 125 years of Liverpool Football Club, next season there will be an anniversary crest on the new retro-looking kit from what we can tell.

The design for next season will be unveiled tomorrow.

BBC app users may need to select the link.

Paris St-Germain and Monaco are playing in a Coupe de France (French Cup) semi-final tonight, but the competition is not at the top of the clubs' priorities, according to sports newspaper L'Equipe.

Both teams are level on points at the top of Ligue 1, with a number of players set to make their debuts in the cup competition tonight as the clubs prioritise league glory.

Tonight's winners will meet Angers, who reached their first French Cup final in 60 years when they won 2-0 against Guingamp on Tuesday.

Image source, L'Equipe

John Higgins has wrapped up a 13-6 victory over Kyren Wilson to move into the final four of the World Snooker Championship.

The Scot, a four-time world champion, held a 11-5 lead overnight and got the two frames he needed this morning to set up a semi-final against either Barry Hawkins or Stephen Maguire.

Hawkins leads 5-3 after the first session in that one and they get back under way at 14:30 BST.

We have coverage of Mark Selby's game against Marco Fu on BBC Two now, with Selby 8-2 ahead.

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Last week, Real Club Tenis Barcelona announced that their centre court would be named after Rafael Nadal in honour of the man who has dominated the Barcelona Open over the last decade. 

Nadal just tweeted: "An honor to see this! Thank you very much."

The world number five will play Brazil's Rogerio Dutra Silva on the 'Pista Rafa Nada' later today.

We were expecting to bring you updates from Andy Murray's match against Bernard Tomic in the second round of the Barcelona Open.

Well, that was the plan, but it is good news for Murray as the Australian has had to withdraw because of a back injury.

World number one Murray had been given a bye in the first round and will now play either Spain's Albert Montanes or 16th seed Feliciano Lopez in the last 16.

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We're on the home straight! Just 100 days to go until the start of the London 2017 IAAF World Championships.

Organisers have today confirmed that coaches of successful athletes will be recognised. It's the first time ever at a World Championships that coaches of medal-winning athletes will also receive medals.