Banned Ivan Toney diagnosed with gambling addiction following FA investigation
Brentford striker ban remains set at eight months following diagnosis after being found to have bet 126 times on his own team
The length of Ivan Toney’s football ban will remain at eight months following a formal diagnosis of gambling addiction delivered during his Football Association (FA) regulatory commission hearing, which took place on May 16.
The Premier League star was banned from playing football earlier this month after he accepted 232 breaches of the FA Rule E8, around betting on football.
The FA regulatory commission released its written reasons for the sanction today (26 May).
The reasons stated that “126 bets were in respect of matches in a competition in which Mr Toney’s club had participated in or were eligible to participate in that particular season”.
The published document also noted that of those 126 bets, “29 bets or instructions to bet were in respect of the club that Mr Toney was registered with or on loan with at the time” and that of those 29 “there were 16 bets on Mr Toney’s own team to win 15 different matches. Mr Toney played in 11 of these games and was an unused substitute in another game.”
The FA’s regulatory commission concluded that the England forward tried to conceal what he was doing by “using third parties and their betting accounts … in case there was ever an investigation”.
Psychiatrist expert Dr Philip Hopley, who has previously interviewed Toney twice, attended the hearing via video call to take questions and issue his professional opinion that Toney has a gambling addiction and needs help.
Following the diagnosis, the commission said: “A significant reduction should be made to reflect the diagnosed gambling addiction identified by Dr Hopley, the lack of control the player has in respect of gambling is clearly a reflection of his diagnosed gambling addiction.
“The present case is not one of match-fixing. If it was, the charges would have been pursued under different provisions. 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,” the commission added.
Following the publication of the written reasons, Toney’s present club Brentford issued a statement which indicated that there would be no appeal against the length of the ban and it is committed to welcoming the player back to training in September as per the conditions of the ban.
The statement read: “The club will now be doing everything possible to provide support to Ivan and his family to deal with the issues raised in this case. Conversations regarding this and all matters relating to the case will remain confidential in order to protect the player and his family.
“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.”
Toney has responded to the publication of the reasons on social media, writing that he will “speak soon with no filter”.