Ivan Toney has finally been hit with a lengthy FA ban from all football and football-related activity for betting breach.
The Brentford striker has been banned from football for eight months after he accepted breaking Football Association betting rules.
This comes after he admitted to 232 breaches of the Football Association’s betting rules, the governing body has announced.
Ivan Toney has been suspended from all football and football-related activity with immediate effect for eight months, fined £50,000 and warned as to his future conduct for breaches of The FA’s Betting Rules.
Full statement: https://t.co/yzSHhWR7Hv pic.twitter.com/bpd5ZRIix8
— FA Spokesperson (@FAspokesperson) May 17, 2023
FA STATEMENT:
Ivan Toney has been suspended from all football and football-related activity with immediate effect for eight months, which runs up to and including 16 January 2024, fined £50,000 and warned as to his future conduct for breaches of The FA’s Betting Rules.
The Brentford FC forward was charged with 262 breaches of FA Rule E8 in total between 25 February 2017 and 23 January 2021. The FA subsequently withdrew 30 of these breaches and he admitted to the remaining 232.
His sanctions were subsequently imposed by an independent Regulatory Commission following a personal hearing. He is permitted to return to training only with his club for the final four months of his suspension starting from 17 September 2023.
The independent Regulatory Commission’s written reasons for these sanctions will be published in due course, and The FA will wait to review them before commenting further.
BRENTFORD STATEMENT:
Brentford FC notes the decision of an independent Regulatory Commission to issue an eight-month ban from all football and football-related activity to Ivan Toney with immediate effect.
Ivan was charged with breaches of FA rule E8 and had a personal hearing earlier this week.
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.
Official: Brentford striker Ivan Toney has been suspended from all football and football-related activity with immediate effect for eight months. 🚨🔴
He has also been fined with £50,000 —and warned as to his future conduct for breaches of The FA’s Betting Rules. pic.twitter.com/ZtHBomVG3B
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) May 17, 2023
Ivan Toney, who was charged with violating betting rules of the Football Association, has brought up new questions about gambling’s relationship to the English game.
Anyone involved in professional or semi-professional football in England is forbidden from betting on the game worldwide, and promoting such activities in their personal capacity is also prohibited. Eight years ago, strict new rules were introduced to simplify an existing regulation which prohibited bets on matches, competitions and off-field issues in which the participants were personally involved.
The rules were put in place to protect integrity, but some argue that they unfairly prohibit players from gambling lawfully on games which they do not have any connection with. The new rules are also subject to debate as they have caught a number of high-profile gamblers out.
Five years ago, the FA severed its commercial ties to the gambling industry after finally admitting that there was at least a perceived conflict of interest in its enforcement of betting within the game while taking the money from bookmakers. The FA didn’t stop clubs from doing the same, and only last month was a blanket advertising ban enforced by the Committee for Advertising Practice against those in the game who promote gambling. The FA and the Government have been unable to force the sport to cut off all ties with the gambling industry because of the teams’ dependence on bookmaker sponsorships. Some clubs could even go bankrupt if they are deprived.
Eight Premier League teams and six Championship clubs have gambling sponsors on the front of their shirts: Everton, Leeds United, West Ham United, Newcastle United, Southampton, Fulham, Brentford, Bournemouth, Sunderland), Stoke City, Middlesbrough and Birmingham City. Many more teams have sponsorship deals for their sleeves, training kit logos and stadium advertising.
In September, it was revealed that some clubs were taking a share of the money lost by fans to Sky Bet. A group of MPs demanded the English Football League end its long-standing partnership with Sky Bet.
The PFA reported that 520 members of the association sought counselling and treatment from Sporting Chance during last season. Around 40 of these individuals had gambling addictions. Tony Adams, a former England and Arsenal captain who founded the clinic in 2020, stated that nearly half of its clients were being treated.
Colin Bland, the chief executive of the charity, expressed “concerns” about the gambling exposure that clients face when they return to work, both during treatment and after.
This was a result of research conducted by GambleAware, the Gambling Commission and others that found problem gamblers are more likely to experience suicidal feelings, to attempt suicide or to harm themselves.
The long-delayed update to the Gambling Act will be published at the end or beginning of the year. Premier League clubs will introduce a voluntary sponsorship ban to avoid a government-imposed prohibition.
EFL teams would be exempt from any such intervention, however that won’t be enough to satisfy campaigners demanding an end to all links between sport and the gambling industry.
A spokesperson for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said: “We are undertaking the most comprehensive review of gambling laws in 15 years to ensure they are fit for the digital age. As we have said all along, we will be publishing a white paper as part of a review of gambling legislation.”
Under the current Gambling Act, betting companies are required to share information with sports governing bodies relating to potential breaches of their rules.
The Betting and Gaming Council has also defended its links to football, with a spokesman saying: “The regulated betting and gaming industry provides some of the country’s most popular sport with vital funding. The Government has previously stated research did not establish a causal link between exposure to advertising and the development of problem gambling.”
This is what fans are saying as Ivan Toney gets hit with a lengthy ban from all football and football-related activity for a betting breach…
@ELBeano12: What are the odds of this happening? 🤦♂️
@biggestpog21: I like how this is happening at the end of the season… should happen at the start of the season
@Gavinthered78: A disgrace that he has been able to play so long this season those charges. Conveniently covering the summer break
@Malachians: Obviously Toney shouldn’t be betting but surely they should also be looking at this as something he might need professional help and counseling with? If he has a gambling addiction and it’s widely accepted that addiction is an illness then surely that should be considered?
@DirtyLeedsFC: Absolutely ridiculous. What does that achieve? I’m sure you’ll be banging in about player mental health next month! Maybe if you was less inclined to bend over when a betting company wants to sponsor something, this wouldn’t happen! 🤬 #ivantoney #brentfordfc
@BG__85: They have blatantly dragged out the Ivan Toney case till near the end of the season, with a couple of months of his 8 month ban being served when there’s no football
@LfcShaunjudge: Funny how Ivan Toney can be punished this close to the end of the season but the likes of City and Everton can’t 🤷🏻♂️
@thomasphillips6: Betting on the shirts, betting on the pitchside, betting all over TV and social media. What do they expect to happen? Ivan Toney needs help, not a ban. Ridiculous
@ryan_rudman: Absolutely hilarious considering gambling ads are around most stadiums, across many shirts and on Tv/YouTube every 5 minutes connected to football. We even have leagues named after betting companies. All of this is designed to give ppl in and around football a gambling addiction.
@MakThatGuy: 8 month ban for Toney can’t play till January I think that kills his big move tbh cos then you’d hope he comes back not match fit just playing half a season and he’s a year older come next Summer I don’t see anyone taking the chance on him
@FulhamTransfer: Shocking! 2 months off over the summer 50k slap on the wrist!. This should have been a year. Imagine if this was Mitrovic! He’d get the electric chair 🤣
@colleenchey: Oof, 8 months. I mean the amount of breaches were ludicrous tbh. With that said, I think the FA and football in general need to do some soul searching – Stadium’s named after Betting companies, Shirt Sponsors, TV Adverts pre & post games… c’mon! They did it with Alcohol 🤷♀️
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