The written reasons for the ban were revealed, shedding light on the extent of Toney’s gambling addiction and the nature of his bets.
Toney placed a total of 232 bets on football matches between February 2017 and January 2021
Brentford striker Ivan Toney has been handed an eight-month ban by the Football Association (FA) for breaching the organization’s betting rules. The written reasons for the ban were revealed, shedding light on the extent of Toney’s gambling addiction and the nature of his bets. According to the FA’s findings, Toney placed a total of 232 bets on football matches between February 2017 and January 2021. Of these bets, 126 were on matches involving Toney’s club or competitions in which his club was eligible to participate that season. Out of the 126 bets, 29 were specifically related to clubs Toney was registered with or on loan to at the time.
Interestingly, 16 of those 29 bets were placed on Toney’s team to win 15 different matches. Toney himself played in 11 of these games and was an unused substitute in another. However, the more concerning aspect is that 13 of the 29 bets were placed on Toney’s own team to lose in seven different matches, occurring between August 22, 2017, and March 3, 2018. It is important to note that Toney did not participate in any of these matches. Remarkably, 11 out of the 13 bets against Toney’s team were specifically targeting Newcastle United, a club he was on loan to at the time. The remaining two bets involved a match between Wigan and Aston Villa during Toney’s loan spell at Wigan, although he was not included in the squad.
The player initially denied betting on football and even lied to investigators on multiple occasions
In addition to the betting offences, Toney also breached FA Rule E8.2 by providing insider information to a friend on March 29, 2018, regarding his club’s next match. Although Toney argued that the information was widely known, he acknowledged his wrongdoing and accepted the breach of rules. During the investigation, Toney initially denied betting on football and even lied to investigators on multiple occasions. However, he later admitted to all 232 breaches of betting rules and pleaded guilty. This admission, along with Toney’s display of “genuine remorse,” led to a reduction in his ban from 15 months to eight months. Additionally, the independent commission took into account Toney’s diagnosed gambling addiction, as determined by psychiatrist Dr Philip Hopley, and reduced the sanction further by three months.
The FA’s document emphasized that Toney’s lack of control over gambling was a clear reflection of his diagnosed addiction. While he has stopped betting on football, Toney continues to gamble on other sports and casino games. The player has expressed his determination to address his gambling problem through therapy after the conclusion of the current season. In response to the ban, Toney took to Twitter, hinting that he would share his thoughts candidly at a later time. Meanwhile, Brentford FC issued a statement acknowledging the offences committed by Toney and accepting the inevitable sanctions. The club emphasized that none of the charges related to events where Toney could negatively impact his own team. They expressed their commitment to supporting Toney and his family in dealing with the issues raised in the case, ensuring that conversations regarding this matter will remain confidential.
With the matter now considered closed, Brentford FC looks forward to welcoming Toney back to training in September and seeing him represent the club in the Premier League from January onwards.