Thursday 6 October 2016 08:37, UK
Rangers midfielder Joey Barton has been charged by the Scottish Football Association for allegedly placing 44 bets on football matches.
The former England international, 34, was issued with a notice of complaint by the governing body on Wednesday afternoon.
He has until next Wednesday to respond to the complaint and a principal hearing date has been set for October 27.
In the notice, the association claimed Barton breached disciplinary rule 31 by placing the bets between July 1 and September 15 this year.
There were reports last month part of Barton's alleged betting activity related to Celtic's 7-0 defeat to Barcelona in the Champions League, a match played on September 13.
Barton is currently serving a three-week suspension from his club following his part in a training ground row last month.
He had initially been banished for six days in the wake of Rangers' 5-1 Old Firm derby defeat to Celtic, having argued with team-mate Andy Halliday and manager Mark Warburton.
Barton was then given the lengthier ban and is currently scheduled to return to the Glasgow club's Auchenhowie training base next week.
The former Manchester City, Newcastle and QPR player has made eight appearances for Rangers since his summer move from Burnley.
If the complaint against Barton is upheld, he could face a ban from football after two Rangers players were previously found to have broken rules.
Ian Black served a three-match ban in 2013 for betting on 140 games including a number he was involved in, with one being a 4-2 win over East Stirlingshire in which he predicted the Ibrox side would draw in an accumulator.
Former England U21 goalkeeper Steve Simonsen was also suspended for one game last year for betting on a total of 55 matches.
