Missing out on World Cup was lowest point says Ivan Toney

The English striker is banned from football for eight months

Brentford and England striker Ivan Toney was banned from football for eight months for breaching 232 betting rules.

Ivan Toney was not a part of England’s squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Despite being one of the best in-form strikers at that time, Southgate left him in England. Six days later, Toney was charged with breaching betting rules.

After this incident in November, the player accepted these charges on the final day of February. The forward made his international debut against Ukraine in March. Two months later, he was banned for eight months from football.

In a recent interview, Ivan Toney made a few statements regarding all the things he has been through.

“I guess it comes down to the allegations but personally I feel it was a bit of a questionable time when they decided to bring it all out and then when they actually dealt with the situation come the end of the season,”

“The biggest punishment for me was missing out on playing at the World Cup. I felt more hurt and down around that time, like somebody’s out to get me to stop me from playing for England. That was the lowest point.”

“I remember at the time when there was allegations, I wanted to go to a restaurant and they were like, ‘No you can’t – we’re not taking you,'” he said.

“I was like, ‘what do you mean?’ and then it was the allegations, we’re not allowing you in or something like this. I was actually so confused.

“I was thinking, ‘For starters, it’s allegations and second of all you are a restaurant how can you not let someone in because of bad press?’

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“I was just baffled, and my car insurance, they wouldn’t insure me due to the whole scandal. And I was like. ‘Car insurance? They won’t have me on their books?’. It was baffling.”

He added: “The impact it [betting] would have is waiting for payday. I’d pay for everything I need to sort and then I would be like, ‘I’ve got this much to play with’.

“I took care of what needed to be taken care of then in my head it’s like, ‘My money is my money and I can spend it how I want’.”

“The whole football community is big on mental health and then the FA are going to do this and push me away. It’s not a place I want people to feel sorry for me. That’s the last thing that I want,” Ivan Toney said.

“So, what if someone not as strong as me in the head is going through this situation and their punishment is they are not allowed at the club – that would break them.

“Right now, not being around the training ground, it does hurt me. I just know when I’m at the training ground, I train harder. It’s not a nice feeling. Not being allowed at the training ground is baffling to me.

“I’m counting down the days until I can be training and around the boys. It’s like being in football prison at the moment.”

Ivan Toney could make his Premier League return when Brentford face Tottenham away on 30 January, with the striker saying he has the “hunger to recharge and come back on another level”.

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