Toney Banned Over Betting Breaches
Brentford striker Ivan Toney has been handed an eight-month ban after being found guilty of breaching Football Association betting rules. The Premier League star has also been fined £50,000 and given a warning over his future conduct. The player has admitted to 232 betting breaches and will not play for the club until January 2024.
The record goal scorer helped Brentford to secure its promotion to the Premier League.©Dom Le Roy/Pexels
Eight Month Ban
Ivan Toney has been suspended from all football and football-related activity for eight months. The ban begins with immediate effect, after the FA determined that the player was guilty of breaking its rules on betting. As a result, the Brentford forward will not be seen on the pitch until January 17th, 2024.
The Premier League player will be allowed to return to his club for training during the final four months of his suspension, from September this year. Issuing a statement on the matter, the FA said that it had also fined Toney £50,000 and warned him over his future conduct.
The 27-year-old was charged with 262 breaches of FA Rule E8 between February 25th, 2017 and January 23rd, 2021. However, the FA withdrew 30 of these breaches. Toney admitted to the remaining 232. Posting on social media the footballer confirmed the situation stating:
“Today I have received notification of my 8-month ban from football following a hearing before an FA Regulatory Commission that took place yesterday. I am naturally disappointed that I will be unable to play for the next 8 months.”
Toney declined to comment further on the issue, as the independent Regulatory Commission’s written reasons for these sanctions has not yet been published. The FA is also waiting to review these reasons before it comments further. The player did take the opportunity to thank his family, friends, Brentford FC and fans for their continued support through what has been a very difficult time.
Record Goal Scorer
Toney’s presence will be missed by Brentford, a club he has helped elevate to ninth place in the table. This season he scored 20 goals in 33 Premier League appearances. His loss will come as a blow to the club and casts doubt on his future career for both club and country.
The striker has been a formidable force in the sport since he made his debut for Northampton Town in 2012. He was the youngest player to represent the club and scored 13 goals in 60 matches before moving to Newcastle United in 2015.
Toney was then loaned twice to Barnsley, during which period he won the 2015-16 Football League Trophy and 2016 League One play-offs. Over the following two years, he was loaned out in League One to Shrewsbury Town, Scunthorpe United and Wigan Athletic. 2018 saw Toney join Peterborough United on a permanent basis, where he was named League One top scorer and Player of the Season 2019-20.
The striker joined Brentford in 2020, and has since made 111 appearances and scored 63 goals for the club. His record-breaking 31 goals during the 2020-21 season helped the club to earn its promotion to the Premier League.
Toney was first called up to represent the England national team for UEFA Nations League fixtures against Italy and Germany in 2022. However, he remained an unused substitute. 2023 saw the player called up again for the first two matches of England’s Euro 2024 qualifying campaign. He made his international debut on March 26th, stepping in for Harry Kane in the 81st minute. The match, played at Wembley Stadium, saw England claim a 2-0 victory over Ukraine.
The striker has garnered international attention, and in 2021 it was reported that he would be called up to play for the Jamaican national team. President of the Jamaica Football Federation Michael Ricketts claimed that Toney was pursuing a Jamaican passport to play for the team. Toney ultimately rejected the call, hoping instead to represent England.
Questions Over Betting Ties
News of Toney’s betting offences first broke in November 2022, when it was revealed that he had been charged by the Football Association. He admitted to the initial 232 alleged breaches, but contested the further 30 breaches that were brought a month later. At the time, Toney expressed his dismay at press speculation over the breaches as he had not yet had a formal hearing.
Toney is not the only prominent player to have fallen foul of the FA’s strict betting rules. In December 2020, England defender Kieran Trippier was handed a ten-week ban after sharing information to aid others in betting on his transfer from Tottenham to Atletico Madrid.
Joey Barton, playing for Burnley at the time, was banned for 18 months after admitting to placing 1,260 football-related bets over a ten-year period. After an appeal his ban was reduced to 13 months. The ban expired in June 2018 Barton, after which he began his managerial career with Fleetwood Town.
Until the FA publishes more details on the ban and its reasons for the decision it is difficult to speculate on the nature of Toney’s gambling offences. However, the case does raise questions over why the player continued to act in the way that he did so many times over a considerable time frame.
Due its firm rules on betting, sanctions were always a likely a result in this case. Toney would have been aware of the rules on betting and the consequences of breaking them. It is likely that the FA will face questions on why the process has taken so long as well as the fact that much of Toney’s ban will take place during the summer.
Critics may point out that issues between football and the gambling industry run deep. Brentford is one of many clubs to be sponsored by a betting firm. Hollywoodbets has acted as the club’s Principal Partner since 2021 but it has been reported that it is seeking a new sponsor in the wake of Toney’s betting breaches and the government’s crackdown on the Premier League’s reliance on betting partners.
