Gambling Addiction: Brentford to support banned Ivan Toney
Brentford have expressed their support for Ivan Toney after the striker was diagnosed as a gambling addict on Friday as the reasons for his eight-month football ban were revealed by the FA.
The Brentford striker, who has the backing of England boss Gareth Southgate, pleaded guilty to 232 of 262 betting charges brought by the FA last year, with the end result – a £50,000 fine and a ban of eight months – distributed earlier in the month.
The governing body has withdrawn the remaining 30 charges, but regardless, Toney is banned until January 16 next year and he can’t even train with Brentford until September. The ban is longer than originally planned, but it reflects the seriousness of the situation.
In Friday’s FA bombshell, it is revealed that Toney placed more than a dozen bets on his own team in a seven-month period between 2017 and 2018. He also kicked in to score at many times.
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Toney also informed a friend that he would start his club’s next game, although the circumstances surrounding the breach are unclear. It was also stated in the FA report that Toney did not play in any of the games he bet against his parent club Newcastle while on loan at Wigan.
Brentford were quick to react to the FA report, insisting they consider the matter closed and will continue to support the striker.
A statement from Brentford read: ‘Brentford FC have received and accepted written reasons from an independent regulatory commission which imposed an eight-month ban on Ivan Toney from all football and football-related activity after acknowledging breaches of the FA rule E8, relating to the placement of bets. on football.
“The judgment has been published on the FA website. Ivan and Brentford FC admit breaches were committed and penalties were unavoidable.
“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.