Brentford player Ivan Toney has pleaded guilty to a large number of charges of violating the Football Association’s gambling rules. Now, the player is expected to face a long ban from football before the end of the ongoing 2022/2023 season.
Toney, who is 26 years old, has pleaded guilty in response to a large number of the 262 charges that were officially by the Football Association in December 2022 but is rejecting others. Reportedly, a disciplinary hearing at the FA is set to imminently be held.
The impending ban of the young professional football player from the sport is likely to rule him out of England’s squad for the European Championship qualifiers against Italy and Ukraine, which are scheduled to take place in April. This is causing a lot of turmoil for the team’s manager Gareth Southgate who is now left with not that much of attacking options after both Raheem Sterling and Callum Wilson are dealing with injuries.
Even though Ivan Toney was not included in Southgate’s selection for the World Cup after training poorly after he was called up for the UEFA National League matches against Italy and Germany in September 2022, he managed to keep himself in great form for Brentford, which would help him remain part of the manager’s plans.
Toney Not Charged with Betting against Any of His Clubs from 2017 to 2021
As previously reported by Casino Guardian, in November 2022, Ivan Toney faced charges with a total of 232 breaches of the Football Association’s gambling laws in the period between 2017 and 2021. In December, the FA added a further 30 charges of the player’s violations that took place from 2017 to 2019.
During the time when the gambling legislation breaches occurred, the young striker played for a number of football clubs, including Wigan, Scunthorpe, Peterborough, and Brentford. So far, he has not been accused of placing bets against any of the clubs he played for.
Reportedly, Toney has admitted many of the charges in a response to the Football Association, but he also rejected some of the claims. Experts have noted that the most possible outcome for him to face is a suspension lasting several months, considering the large number of alleged breaches compared to the historical precedence. His suspension from the game, however, may not cost that much to Brentford, as it will probably start before the end of the ongoing season and much of it could be served during the summer of 2023.
Back in 2017, Joey Barton, who played as a midfielder for Burnely, faced an 18-month ban after admitting that he had placed a total of 1,260 wagers in the period from 2006 to 2013. His suspension from professional football was eventually reduced to 13 months following an appeal. In 2021, two players of Boston United – Jay Rollins and Andi Thanoj – were found guilty of placing a total of 757 between them and got suspended from professional football for a period of five months.
- Author
Daniel Williams
