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After being handed an eight-month ban from football last week following 232 breaches of betting rules, Ivan Toney is expected to face further criticism after the FA revealed the details behind the ban today.
In a published list of written reasons for the ban, the FA said the Brentford striker had made 29 bets on games involving the club he played for at the time.
Thirteen of the 29 bets were placed on his own team to lose across seven separate matches during the 2017/2018 season. Eleven of the 13 bets were made against Newcastle United, where Toney was a squad member, with the other two against Wigan when he was on loan at the Latics.
Between February 2017 and January 2021, Toney also placed 16 bets on his own team to win across 15 separate matches. He also placed 15 bets on himself to score a goal.
What may have saved Toney from a longer ban is the fact that in the instances where he placed a bet on his team to lose, he wasn’t selected to play meaning he had no real influence on the match result. However, in the instances where he placed a bet on his team to win, he did feature.
The FA said: “There is no evidence that Mr Toney did or was even in a position to influence his own team to lose when he placed bets against them winning – he was not in the squad or eligible to play at the time.”
🚨 BREAKING 🚨
FA release reasons for Ivan Toney’s betting breaches ⤵️
• Made 16 bets on his own team to win 15 different games
• Bet 13 times on his own team to lose in 7 different matches – (Did not play in any of these)
He's also been diagnosed with a gambling addiction pic.twitter.com/azQFdFSHgR
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) May 26, 2023
Toney diagnosed with a gambling addiction
Another revelation within the report is the fact that the 27-year-old has been diagnosed with a gambling addiction following two meetings with Dr Philip Hopley, an experienced Psychiatrist.
The FA have said that it was this diagnosis, and the fact that Toney had shown remorse by pleading guilty, that contributed to them reducing the ban to eight months when they were initially considering a 15-month ban.
The eight-month ban started last week and he will be out of action until January 17th, although he will be allowed to resume training with Brentford in September. In the meantime, the centre forward, who has received the backing of Gareth Southgate, will have to train on his own to keep fit and hand over a £50,000 fine to the FA.
In a statement about the length of the ban, the FA said:
“The commission finds that a significant reduction should be made to reflect the diagnosed gambling addiction identified by Dr Hopley. The lack of control the player has in respect of gambling is clearly a reflection of his diagnosed gambling addiction.”
Ivan Toney had a gambling addiction.
If it was any other medically recognised mental health issue, he wouldn't be expected to be a walking billboard for it every week. pic.twitter.com/pIT1FZvTT9
— The Big Step (@the_bigstep) May 26, 2023
Support from Brentford
After the FA’s report was published, Brentford were quick to come out and offer their support to their star man. Toney has netted 20 Premier League goals this season and they have confirmed that they are standing by their man. In a statement released earlier today, the club said:
“The commission noted that none of the charges related to events where Ivan could negatively impact his own team. The detail is included in the written reasons.
The club will now be doing everything possible to provide support to Ivan and his family to deal with the issues raised in this case.”
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