Ivan Toney, the Brentford striker, has been revealed to have placed 13 bets on his own club to lose and has been diagnosed with a gambling addiction, according to the FA’s written explanation of his eight-month ban from football activities…
The FA released the reasons for Toney’s ban, which highlight that he made a total of 232 breaches of betting rules between February 2017 and January 2021. The written reasons also reveal that Toney admitted to lying to investigators and breaching insider information rules. As a result, he was fined £50,000 and banned from football until January 17. However, due to his guilty plea, remorse, and a diagnosed gambling addiction, his ban was reduced to eight months by the independent commission. Toney plans to seek therapy to address his gambling problem at the end of the season. Brentford FC has accepted the verdict and pledged support to Toney and his family in dealing with the issues raised.
Ivan Toney has been banned from football for eight months
In addition, the written reasons provided by the FA reveal further details about Ivan Toney’s gambling activities. According to the document, out of the 126 bets he placed, 29 bets were specifically related to the club he was registered with or on loan to at the time. Of those 29 bets, 16 were on Toney’s own team to win in 15 different matches, with Toney participating in 11 of those games and being an unused substitute in another.
Furthermore, the document states that Toney placed 13 bets on his own team to lose in seven different matches between August 22, 2017, and March 3, 2018. However, Toney did not play in any of those matches where he bet against his loan club or parent club because he was either not in the match squad or on loan to another team. Among these 13 bets, 11 were against Newcastle while Toney was on loan at another club. The remaining two bets were related to a game between Wigan and Aston Villa, but Toney was not part of the squad during his loan spell at Wigan.
Additionally, 15 of the 126 bets were placed by Toney on himself to score in nine different matches, all of which he played in. These bets were made at a time when the information about his starting or playing in the matches was not publicly known.
The written reasons also highlight that Toney attempted to conceal his betting activities by using third parties and their betting accounts to avoid detection during potential investigations.
During the hearing, psychiatrist Dr. Philip Hopley diagnosed Toney with a gambling addiction, and the regulatory commission acknowledged the significance of this diagnosis. They recognized that Toney’s lack of control over his gambling behavior was a direct result of his diagnosed addiction. It’s important to note that the commission clarified that this case does not involve match-fixing, as there is no evidence to suggest that Toney influenced his own team to lose when placing bets against them.
Brentford has indicated that they will not appeal the length of the ban and have committed to providing support to Toney in dealing with his issues.
