Brentford F.C. has unveiled plans to hold talks with its players regarding gambling on football following the announcement of Ivan Toney’s eight-month ban.
As previously reported by Casino Guardian, the 27-year-old player faced a serious punishment by the country’s Football Association after pleading guilty to 232 breaches of the UK sports betting rules. Now, the English Premier League (EPL) club is willing to make sure that the rest of its players are aware of the rules and comply with them to avoid similar charges and penalties in the squad.
Mail Sport revealed that Brentford F.C.’s players are expected to be given a live Question and Answer session aimed at testing their knowledge of the rules associated with betting and gambling activities. Most of these measures have been triggered as a result of Ivan Toney’s violations. For example, one of his breaches included him telling a friend he would be taking part in his club’s next match, which is considered inside information.
The owner of Brentford F.C. himself – Matthew Benham – has a background in professional gambling, while its director of football, Phil Giles, has worked for Smartodds, a company owned by Benham.
Toney Banned from Football for Eight Months After Pleading Guilty to 232 Charges
As previously reported by Casino Guardian, Ivan Toney was suspended from football for a period of eight months and will not be allowed to take part in his club’s matches until January 2024. However, he would be able to return to training on September 17th, 2023.
Recently, the Brentford F.C. striker commented that the Football Association carried out its investigation, which eventually saw him charged in November 2022 but suspended from the game only in May 2023, in a “spiteful” manner. He further noted that missing the 2022 World Cup in Qatar due to the probe was a bigger punishment than the eight-month suspension from football.
As previously reported, the 27-year-old striker was given a reduced punishment due to the fact he has been diagnosed as a gambling addict. After pleading guilty to 232 charges of breaching the Football Association’s gambling rules, he would have otherwise faced an even lengthier ban from the game. He would be able to return to Brentford training four months before his suspension ends.
Apart from the ban, he was also handed a £50,000 fine for breaching the betting rules of the FA over five seasons, from February 2017 to January 2021. Despite betting on his own team to lose in a few matches, Toney denies claims that his actions were match-fixing.
Although he accepted his punishment, Toney believes that the authorities were too harsh at the time they made his charges public, as they did not wait for the season to come to an end, so he missed both the England camp and the World Cup.
- Author
Daniel Williams
