An independent regulatory commission has found that English striker Ivan Toney placed wagers on matches that involved his own team on a regular basis, including 13 occasions when he bet against his club to win. The commission has also found that the player gave “clearly false” answers to the investigators into his breaches of gambling rules.
The football player has faced an eight-month suspension from the game after pleading guilty to a count of 232 violations of the Football Association’s rule E8, under which players are not allowed to bet on football. It was recently revealed that his sanction would have been three months longer but, during the investigation, Ivan Toney had been diagnosed as a gambling addict, which was why he faced a shorter ban.
The country’s Football Association revealed that the 27-year-old striker’s case is one of the most serious violations of its rules it has so far dealt with.
An investigation held into the player’s alleged breaches found a total of 29 wagers linked to the club Ivan Toney was registered with or on loan with at the time, with 13 of these wagers placed on his own clubs to lose, even though the player was not involved in those exact matches. While he was on loan with another club, Toney placed 11 bets against Newcastle, and the other two bets were associated with a Wigan vs Aston Villa game while the player was on loan at Wigan.
Apart from that, the player placed 15 wagers on himself to score, and 16 wagers on his club to win. Toney was also found to have shared inside information on a match, used third parties who gambled on his behalf, and eventually withheld information from the FA investigators. As mentioned above, the existing rules could carry a lifetime ban, as a result of gambling on your own performance – something the English striker was also found to have done. Apart from that, the independent regulatory commission concluded that the player had tried to hide his betting in case there was an investigation, and dismissed his claims that Toney had been willing to conceal his wagering only from his parents.
Toney Accepted 232 Violations of Football Association’s Rules
As previously reported by Casino Guardian, Ivan Toney accepted the 232 breaches of the Football Association’s rules that took place from 2017 to 2021, an original 15-month punishment was reduced to 11 months. Then, the commission further reduced the ban after the panel took into account not only the player’s age, but also the fact that he was diagnosed as a gambling addict.
The panel revealed that the English striker had agreed to undergo treatment for his problem gambling and has demonstrated genuine remorse for his previous FA rule-breaking. It shared that reducing the initially planned sanction was a common thing to do in respect of the personal mitigation that is available to Mr Toney, and confirmed that it took into account the player’s relative youth at the time when the violations of the Football Association’s rules started, as well as his previous good record.
The commission explained it was obvious that the player could hardly control himself in regard to gambling and that was clearly a result of his diagnosed gambling addiction. It further noted that Ivan Toney has stopped placing wagers on football, although he still bets on casino games and other sports events. The player was determined to address his problem gambling behaviour through suitable therapy at the end of the ongoing season.
- Author
Daniel Williams
