Sunderland sack Emmanuel Eboue 3weeks after signing him after he's banned by FIFA

Sunderland football club in it's bid to stay away from another controversy after the Adam Johnson saga, has moved swiftly to sack Ivory Coast defender Emmanuel Eboue after the Ivorien was this morning slapped with a one year football ban by FIFA for refusing to pay his agent.

The former Arsenal defender, aged 32, signed for the Black Cats earlier this month on a short-term deal until the end of the season.

But that contract has now been torn up after it emerged that the former Ivory Coast international will not be available to feature. Eboue has been banned by FIFA for 12 months for failing to pay his former agent.

He can return to action sooner than that if he pays an amount owed to his former agent Sébastien Boisseau. Eboue was initially ordered to pay the money in July 2013 and fined for failing to comply with the judgement in September 2014.

He subsequently appealed against the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but his appeal was dismissed. A statement released by Sunderland confirmed the players had two weeks in which to appeal against their decision to sack him.