Brentford striker Ivan Toney placed bets on his own team losing in an extraordinary revelation into his gambling habits as the Football Association published their written reasons behind his eight-month suspension. The England international will not be able to play until January 2024 at the earliest after admitting to 232 breaches of the FA’s gambling regulations, which included betting against his own team with 13 bets.

Toney pleaded guilty to 232 of the 262 betting charges brought by the FA in a hearing last week and was served with an eight-month suspension from all football activity along with a £50,000 fine. 

The suspension may have been longer than initially expected, but it was actually reduced by three months as the FA published the written reasons behind their decision to ban Toney. It included findings from a psychiatrist, who diagnosed Toney as a gambling addict after assessing the 27-year-old.

But one of the most remarkable inclusions in the report was the reference to 13 bets made by Toney against his own team over a period of seven months between 2017 and 2018.

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