REVEALED: Why was Ivan Toney banned for ‘Gambling addiction?’ Did he bet against his own team?

Toney's ban sparked widespread discussion on the dangers of gambling.

REVEALED: Why was Ivan Toney banned for ‘Gambling addiction?’ Did he bet against his own team?

Ivan Toney in action for Brentford. (Credits: @centregoals)

The English Football Association recently banned Ivan Toney for betting on matches involving his side. After acknowledging 232 betting violations, the FA prohibited the Brentford striker from playing until January 2024 and barred him from training with his teammates until September.

According to the written reasons, “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.”

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Ivan Toney bet on Newcastle United to lose 13 of his 29 bets from August 2017 to March 2018. He was on loan from Newcastle at the time, first to Wigan Athletic and subsequently to Scunthorpe United. He did not participate in any of the games.

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The ban and £50,000 penalties were imposed on the 27-year-old earlier this month. In another case, Toney promised a friend that he would start his club’s next game in March 2018 while the information was not publicly available, and he also confessed to lying to the FA when questioned about the charges. 

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Ivan Toney diagnosed with gambling addiction

Ivan Toney Brentford celly 1
Ivan Toney celebrates after scoring for Brentford. (Credits: @centregoals)

Doctors revealed that Brentford Striker Ivan Toney has a gambling addiction, which caused him to place bets on his own club to lose matches. The English Football Association would have handed him a ban of longer than eight months if they had not diagnosed him with a gambling addiction.

The FA report said: “Dr Hopley had interviewed Mr Toney on two occasions and concluded in his report that Mr Toney has a clear history of gambling addiction. There is no need to set out the details of the report for these reasons. It was Dr Hopley’s conclusion that Mr Toney needs professional help in respect of his addiction.”

Earlier this week, Gareth Southgate, the England manager, expressed criticism of the ban, stating that the football community should take more initiative in assisting Toney rather than isolating him. This is primarily because Toney is unable to train with Brentford until mid-September. Since then, Toney has made the decision to quit gambling on football, and according to the source, he has expressed a strong determination to address his gambling problem through therapy.

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