A report into the NFL's handling of the Ray Rice assault case has revealed that the league had not been handed a copy of the video displaying the incident before it was released into the public domain.

The AP suggested that the NFL had a copy of a video showing Rice punching his wife (then-fiancee) Janay Palmer in the lift of an Atlantic City hotel, but an investigation by former FBI director Robert Mueller has insisted that the league did not have the evidence at their disposal.

However, Mueller has also stated that the NFL should have done more with the evidence at hand to obtain further information before the video was released.

Mueller said in a statement: "We found no evidence that anyone at the NFL had or saw the in-elevator video before it was publicly shown. We also found no evidence that a woman at the NFL acknowledged receipt of that video in a voicemail message on April 9, 2014.

"We concluded there was substantial information about the incident - even without the in-elevator video - indicating the need for a more thorough investigation.

"The NFL should have done more with the information it had, and should have taken additional steps to obtain all available information about the February 15 incident."

Rice was suspended by the NFL, but had his ban overturned on appeal in November.