New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has been banned for four matches by the NFL for his part in the deflategate scandal, and the club have been docked their first-round pick in the 2016 Draft.
A report into the deflategate scandal found that Brady was generally aware that members of the Patriots' equipment staff had deflated footballs in his side's AFC championship win over the Indianapolis Colts.
The NFL believes that the evidence provided by Ted Wells was enough to hand Brady the suspension and mete out the largest fine in the history of the league of $1m (£641,000) to the Patriots, who will also lose their first-round pick in the 2016 Draft and a fourth-round selection in 2017.
The league said in a statement: "Based on the extensive record developed in the investigation and detailed in the Wells report, and after full consideration of this matter by the commissioner and the football operations department, we have determined that the Patriots have violated the NFL's policy on integrity of the game and enforcement of competitive rules, as well as the official playing rules and the established guidelines for the preparation of game footballs set forth in the NFL's game operations policy manual for member clubs.
"In making this determination, we have accepted the findings contained in the comprehensive report independently prepared by Mr. Wells and his colleagues."
NFL executive president Troy Vincent wrote in a letter to Brady: "With respect to your particular involvement, the report established that there is substantial and credible evidence to conclude you were at least generally aware of the actions of the Patriots' employees involved in the deflation of the footballs and that it was unlikely that their actions were done without your knowledge.
"Moreover, the report documents your failure to cooperate fully and candidly with the investigation, including by refusing to produce any relevant electronic evidence (emails, texts, etc.), despite being offered extraordinary safeguards by the investigators to protect unrelated personal information, and by providing testimony that the report concludes was not plausible and contradicted by other evidence."
Brady's agent has revealed that he will appeal the suspension.
