Joey Barton’s troubled spell at Rangers took another turn for the worse on Wednesday when he was charged by the Scottish Football Association with placing 44 bets on football matches.

The SFA alleges the wagers were placed between 1 July and 15 September 2016 and that the player is in contravention of disciplinary rule 31. Barton has until 12 October to respond, with a principal hearing set for 27 October.

It emerged last month that Barton – who is suspended by Rangers after a training-ground row with team-mates – was under investigation by the SFA and the Gambling Commission after claims he had bet on Celtic to suffer a heavy defeat to Barcelona in their opening Champions League match. The statement from the SFA revealed the allegations against the 34-year-old are more extensive.

It reads: “Disciplinary Rule 31: In that between 1 July and 15 September 2016, both dates inclusive, you placed 44 bets upon football matches, and accordingly gambled upon football matches in contravention of Disciplinary Rule 31.”

Two former Rangers players are among those to have been punished for breaching the SFA’s blanket ban on football betting in the past. The goalkeeper Steve Simonsen missed one game after betting on 55 matches and Ian Black earlier served a three-match suspension for gambling on 140 matches, including several he played in. The midfielder scored in a 4-2 victory over East Stirlingshire after predicting Rangers would draw in an accumulator.

The SFA charge leaves Barton even more vulnerable after his club suspension cast doubt on whether he would play for Rangers again. Barton is expected to return to training at Rangers on Monday after he was told to stay away from the club for three weeks following talks with the manager, Mark Warburton, and board members.

Barton was also told not to speak to the media after further angering Warburton by giving a radio interview when he claimed the manager’s decision to send him home had been “strange”.