All professional players in English football will be banned from betting on any matches anywhere in the world from next season.

The ruling was ratified at the Football Association's AGM on Wednesday and will apply to any player in the top eight tiers of the English league system, Press Association Sport understands.

It replaces the current rules which only banned players from betting on competitions in which their club was involved.

Tottenham winger Andros Townsend, Newcastle's Dan Gosling - who is to join Bournemouth next season - and Cameron Jerome, who played on loan at Crystal Palace from Stoke last season, are among those to have been found to have breached current betting regulations.

Players will also be prohibited from passing on inside information to a third party who uses that information for betting.