Brentford striker Ivan Toney was found guilty of breaching FA’s betting regulations and has been fined £50K and banned from football for 8 months.
The suspension will take effect immediately, meaning Toney will miss Brentford’s last two games of the season, against Tottenham on Saturday and Manchester City at home on the last game of the season.
The 8-month ban means Toney cannot be involved in any football related activities until January 16, 2024. He was also fined £50,000 after admitting to the alleged violations.
Toney’s punishments were handed down by an independent regulatory commission, and he will be unable to practice with his Brentford teammates until September 17.
Between February 25, 2017, and January 23, 2021, Toney, 27, was charged with 262 violations of FA regulation E8. The FA later removed 30 of these violations, and he confessed to the remaining 232.
His violations occurred between 25 February 2017 and 23 January 2021, while he played for Scunthorpe United, Wigan Athletic, Peterborough United, and Brentford.
What will Brentford and Ivan Toney do now?
The English striker has scored 21 goals in 35 appearances for Brentford. He has been a crucial part of their season, scoring 33% of their goals. He is a major reason for why they are currently 9th and still fighting for a European spot.
The club released a statement on their official website to address the ban. It said, “Ivan was charged with breaches of FA rule E8 and had a personal hearing earlier this week.”
Brentford does have the right to appeal the sanctions and will wait before doing so. “Brentford FC is currently awaiting the publication of the written reasons of the Independent Regulatory Commission. We will review them before considering our next steps.”
Ivan Toney himself took to social media to express his disappointment in the decision.
— Ivan Toney (@ivantoney24) May 17, 2023
“Today I have received notification of my 8- month ban from football following a hearing before an FA Regulatory Commission that took place yesterday. I am naturally disappointed that I will be unable to play for the next 8 months.”
Brentford is reportedly planning to renew Ivan’s contract. He has two years on his contract left which means his transfer value will go down as his contract begins to run out. They believe they could lose millions of pounds unless a big transfer comes in. Toney has already established himself as a proficient striker in England. He is only behind Erling Haaland and Harry Kane in the Premier League top scoring charts.
The ban is enforced by the FA and as such only applies to English football. But if Toney were to move abroad to avoid the ban, the FA would need to apply to FIFA for a request to make the ban worldwide.
Rules of betting in football
There are strict rules when it comes to betting for football personnel. It is banned worldwide for not only players but managers, club staff, directors, board members, and even agents. Whether you participate directly or indirectly, they will be banned.
Passing confidential knowledge to someone who utilizes that information for betting is likewise prohibited. Confidential information is information that you know as a result of your role in the sport but is not publicly known, such as injury or lineup news.
The ban also covers other football matters such as transfers of players, hiring of new managers, or a starting lineup for a match.
Brentford and Toney will hope to overturn or lessen the punishment through an appeal. Though it may not be effective as these things require a lot of time. As of now, Toney will have to take up another hobby(other than betting) until the suspension ends.
