As reported by Sky Sports News, Ivan Toney the Brentford striker, has been identified as suffering from gambling addiction and, furthermore, has been exposed as having placed bets on his own team to lose. As this shocking news has made clear, he has consequently been banned from all football-related activities for an eight-month period, as per the recent announcement from the FA.

A Chilling Unravelling of Events

The heart of the matter stems from Toney’s history of betting, specifically, 13 instances where he gambled on his own team to suffer a defeat. This damning detail was revealed in the written reasons for the eight-month suspension, which also highlighted other alarming findings:

• • A total of 126 bets were placed in matches involving Toney’s club or in competitions they were eligible for within that season.
  • 29 of those bets featured clubs where Toney was either registered or on loan.
  • A detailed look at these 29 bets reveals that 16 were placed on Toney’s team winning 15 different matches. Notably, Toney actively participated in 11 of these matches while being an unused substitute in another.
  • Out of the 29 bets, 13 were positioned on Toney’s own team losing seven different matches during a period between August 22 2017 and March 3 2018. It’s important to note that Toney was absent from all these games.
  • The vast majority of these bets, 11 to be precise, were against Newcastle during Toney’s loan period at another club.
  • The remaining two bets were connected to a Wigan vs Aston Villa match when Toney was on loan at Wigan, a match he wasn’t part of.

I’ll speak soon with no filter.

— Ivan Toney (@ivantoney24) May 26, 2023

The Truth Seeping Through The Lies

Apart from these serious betting allegations, Toney faced another breach of FA Rule E8.2, which relates to insider information. On March 29, 2018, Toney was accused of sharing insider information with a friend about his starting position in the next match. He tried to justify it by claiming it was already widely known, but he nevertheless accepted it as a breach of the rules. Adding to the weight of his actions, Toney admitted to lying to investigators on multiple occasions after initially denying he had ever placed bets on football.

The England international confessed to a whopping 232 breaches of betting rules spanning from February 2017 to January 2021. Consequently, he has been prohibited from participating in any football activity until January 17 2024 and has been slapped with a hefty £50,000 fine.

The Weight of The Charges and Toney’s Penance

The FA document outlined that, had Toney not pleaded guilty to the charges, he would have faced a 15-month ban starting from the upcoming season. The rationale behind this would have been to “properly reflect the seriousness of the offences admitted including betting on one’s own team to lose, albeit he was not playing”.

However, by owning up to his actions and showing “genuine remorse”, Toney managed to earn a 25% reduction to 11 months. Moreover, his diagnosed gambling addiction contributed to a further significant reduction in his suspension term.

Brentford’s Response and Toney’s Future

Following this, Brentford FC issued a statement on their official website:

“Brentford FC has received and accepted the written reasons of an independent Regulatory Commission that handed Ivan Toney an eight-month ban from all football and football-related activity after he admitted breaches of FA Rule E8, relating to placing bets on football.

“We consider this matter closed and look forward to welcoming Ivan back to training in September and seeing him representing Brentford in the Premier League in January.”

This saga serves as a stark reminder of the perils of gambling in sport. For Toney, it is a hard lesson learned and a long road to redemption. As Brentford and its faithful supporters rally behind their beleaguered striker, the hope is that Toney will emerge from this ordeal a better player and, more importantly, a better person.