Burnley boss Sean Dyche has labelled the 18-month ban handed to Joey Barton for a breach of betting regulations as "harsh."
The Football Association imposed the sanction on Wednesday, along with a £30,000 fine, for 1,260 bets the 34-year-old allegedly placed between March 2006 and May 2013, and Barton, who announced his intention to challenge the suspension, believes it will effectively end his playing career.
Barton's short-term contract with Burnley is up at the end of the season and Dyche, who re-signed him after he had been charged by the FA, shared his disappointment over the severity of the suspension.
"He feels it's a bit harsh,'' Dyche said. "He's disappointed. We equally feel it's a bit harsh. I don't know how you balance all these different things in football. One of the most obvious was that the legend that is Eric Cantona kung-fu kicking something -- he got a nine-month ban.
"We know the rules and I must make that clear, and he knows that. But the FA made quite clear there's no intent other than his own personal gambling -- his integrity is intact -- just his own personal situation... 18 months seems a long time to me.
"The FA, we understand they have a role and we respect their decision, we have to. In the bigger picture of the sport, they're obviously showing strength in these individual decisions.
"I can only assume they're going to move on to cheating, which is at a level that needs to be sorted out: diving, feigning of injury, falling to the floor. It needs to be sorted out. I'm sure they'll next move on to the bigger picture and the greater good of the game.''
The FA on Thursday also released the "written reasons" behind Barton's ban in a 63-page document.
In it they noted Barton gambled £205,172.79 and placed 42 bets in 20 matches involving teams he was part of, featuring in two of those games. On 15 occasions he backed his side to lose, though he did not play in those games.
The governing body has confirmed they wrote to Barton in 2012 after the player made two Twitter posts which appeared to allude to betting, and that they were alerted to his account with Betfair when the bookmakers emailed the FA informing them they believed he was in breach of betting regulations in September 2016.
Barton has argued the game itself needs to reconsider links with the gambling industry given 10 top-flight clubs, including Burnley themselves, have shirt-sponsorships deals with businesses from that sector.
Asked if that situation was hypocritical given the rules in place against players, Dyche added: "I think it's the reality, whether it's hypocritical or not.
"Football's a massive, massive business now. Many people want to be linked to football for many different reasons, advertising is a big one.
"It's the controlling powers of football, they can decide whether that's relevant, it's not for me to decide that."
Barton's chances of a successful appeal appear to be slim after the commission argued an 18-month ban was the most lenient punishment they could have arrived at. However, they also noted that Barton had been open, expressed remorse and was willing to assist others with gambling issues and warn players of its perils.