Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce warns Emmanuel Eboue that FIFA ban could end his football career after defender's sacking

Sam Allardyce has warned sacked Sunderland defender Emmanuel Eboue that his career could be finished if he fails to clear the £1million owed to his former agent which saw him banned from football for a year and kicked out of the club just 22 days after signing.

However, the Black Cats boss has offered the Ivorian the incentive of being reinstated if he sorts the issue over the next two weeks.

Sunderland say they were stunned to learn that Eboue – who joined them as a free agent on March 9 and was yet to make his debut – had the possibility of a 12-month ban hanging over him following a long-running dispute with Sebastien Boisseau that ended up in the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Emmanuel Eboue has been handed a one-year suspension from all football-related activity by FIFA

Manager Sam Allardyce says the sacked player risks his career being ended but has offered a route back

FIFA announced on Thursday morning that the former Arsenal defender had been barred from all football activity and Sunderland responded by sacking the 32-year-old within half an hour.

However, Allardyce says there could yet be a way back for Eboue.

'I've never known anything like it, and I've been doing this a long time. It's another factor we could have done without because we've just spent a huge amount of time getting him fit,' said Allardyce.

'We wouldn't have brought him here and spent so much time on him if we didn't think he could make a contribution, and he was starting to prove that he could.

'But I think there'd still be a door open if those problems were sorted in the next seven to 14 days. If that's the case, there might be a way back.

'We can cope and move on but this could finish his career once and for all if he's not careful. That's what Emmanuel has to think about.'

Eboue only signed for Sunderland 22 days ago but has now been sacked following his unexpected ban

Sunderland's players trained ahead of their game against West Brom without their sacked team-mate

Eboue was set to be named in the squad for Saturday's visit of West Brom but, because the ban means he can no longer train with the club, they took the decision to terminate his contract which ran until the end of the season.

Allardyce, though, says Sunderland knew nothing of the issue when he signed following a successful trial period earlier this month.

'There's not really anything the club could have known about it because it was purely and simply confidential,' he said. 'I asked when this came to light, "Would it drop with the FA and the Premier League as a red flag?". The answer was no - it was confidential.'

Allardyce's Sunderland need to start picking up points quickly if they are to avoid relegation from the top flight

Allardyce added: 'He's upset but he has to take responsibility because he has not communicated with the people who were sorting it out well enough over the past few years.

'Certainly nobody has communicated well enough with us to try and avoid this situation.

'I think he probably relied on other people too much, and didn't keep a close enough eye on it himself.'

It is the second player Sunderland have sacked this year. They terminated the contract of Adam Johnson on February 10 after he pleaded guilty to child-sex offences.

Eboue is the second player sacked by Sunderland after they dismissed former midfielder Adam Johnson

However, chief executive Margaret Byrne had been in possession of documents in May of last year in which the England winger confessed to kissing and grooming a 15-year-old season-ticket holder.

Johnson, though, was allowed to continue playing for the club until his trial, during which he was found guilty of a more serious charge of sexual activity with a child and jailed for six years.

Byrne was forced to resign on March 8 - the day before Eboue signed - for her part in allowing Johnson to carry on representing the club for nearly a year following his initial arrest.