Brentford FC and England striker Ivan Toney wagered on games he was involved in, according to the findings of a Football Association (FA) regulatory commission, published Friday.
Last week, Toney, 26, was banned from professional soccer for eight months after admitting to 232 breaches of FA betting rules, a penalty that many viewed as harsh. However, the charges were not previously thought to have related to games in which the player was personally involved.
In fact, Toney might consider himself lucky. Under FA rules, betting on your own games can result in a life ban from soccer.
No Match-Fixing
The commission found that Toney placed 26 bets that related to the club he was registered with at the time. This included 13 occasions when he backed his own team to lose, although he was not directly involved in these matches.
Of the matches he did play in, he always backed his team to win (16 occasions). On 15 occasions, he also bet on himself to score at a time when it was not public knowledge that he would be playing in a game, which constituted insider betting. However, the commission found no evidence of match-fixing.
There is no evidence that Mr Toney did or was even in a position to influence his own team to lose when he placed bets against them winning — he was not in the squad or eligible to play at the time,” it concluded.
But the commission found that Toney lied about the extent of his betting and used third parties to gamble on his behalf, according to the commission.
However, it reduced his sanction from 14 to 11 months. That’s because Toney has been diagnosed with a gambling problem and had sought professional help.
Brentford Backing Toney
Brentford said it would “do everything possible” to support Toney with his addiction. The team’s manager, Thomas Frank, said in a statement that soccer’s financial relationship with gambling needs to be reviewed. Frank also criticized the decision to ban Toney from training with the squad until September.
“We got a massive reminder [on gambling],” he said. “Do we do enough to educate our players? The authorities have a massive task to make sure we do this much better.
“If I can’t speak to him, I guess they will have to ban me as well. If I am not allowed to support him there must be something wrong,” Frank added.
The EPL has voted to ban gambling logos on the front of jerseys from the end of the 2025/26 season. Gambling advertising will still be prevalent elsewhere, including on stadium hoardings.
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