Ivan Toney Saga: FA reveals reasons behind eight-month ban

Brentford's striker breached 232 betting rules.

The FA banned Brentford's striker, Ivan Toney, earlier this month for eight months from football. Toney accepted the ban for breaking the FA's betting rules. Ivan Toney has been diagnosed with a gambling addiction, according to the Football Association.

Recently, the governing body gave the reasons why Toney was punished. The FA listed the following reasons that led to this lengthy ban.

• The striker made bets on his own team to win. He did this 16 times in 15 games.
• On 13 occasions, he made a bet on his team losing the match, and these bets were made in seven different matches. Toney did not feature in any of these matches. This incident took place in 2017.
• The 27-year-old was also found guilty of informing his friend about his playing status. Back in 2018, he told his friend that he would start his next club match in March.
• Toney also bet 15 times on himself to score. He did so in nine different matches and featured in every match.

According to the FA, Toney could have received a ban for longer than eight months. The Football Association decided on shortening the ban after the Englishman was diagnosed with gambling addiction.

Brentford have backed their striker. They also received and accepted the written reasons that were outlined by the Independent Regulatory Commission. Ivan Toney was a leader for the Bees this season. He scored 20 goals in 33 league games. This goal tally is the biggest reason behind Brentford's top-half finish in the Premier League.

A massive miss for Brentford

The 27-year-old will be a big miss for Brentford until January 2024. He cannot train with the team until September. Thomas Frank will look for his replacement for the first half of the season and hope that his team continues to shine without their main striker. Toney is the third-highest goal-scorer in the Premier League this season.

Ivan Toney's repetitive betting on matches involving his own team was one of the reasons behind the huge ban. He has been diagnosed as a gambling addict and will be going through some treatment.