Liverpool goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili has been fined £440 after being caught using his mobile phone to watch a video while driving on the M6 motorway.
The 25-year-old Georgian international was pulled over by Cheshire Police on January 27 after an officer noticed him holding his phone near the steering wheel of his Audi while driving at motorway speed.
At Warrington Combined Court on Friday, Mamardashvili was also given six penalty points on his licence and ordered to pay £120 in costs and a £176 victim surcharge.
According to a police statement, the incident occurred at around 15:45 GMT on the southbound carriageway of the M6 between Junctions 23 and 21. PC Ree wrote that he was driving in lane three when he passed a black Audi in lane two, even though lane one was clear. The driver appeared to be watching something on his phone screen.
After stopping the vehicle on the hard shoulder, the officer asked Mamardashvili to sit in the back of the police car. The footballer identified himself with a Georgian driving licence.
Mamardashvili did not respond to the prosecution notice, and the case was handled in a private Single Justice Procedure hearing. No plea was entered, and he was found guilty based on the written police evidence, which also included footage from the officer's body-worn camera.
This season, Mamardashvili has made 20 appearances for Liverpool, keeping three clean sheets while covering for the injured first-choice keeper Alisson.