Ivan Toney’s diagnosed gambling addiction provided ‘significant alleviation’ by allowing the Brentford striker a reduced ban from football.
Toney, 27, was banned from the sport for eight months by an independent regulatory commission earlier this month after admitting 232 breaches of FA betting rules.
Details of Toney’s case were released on Friday and showed the FA initially sought a 15-month ban for the England international which would have started at the start of the 2023-24 season, which the independent commission reduced to eight to light to plead guilty and his medically diagnosed gambling addiction.
The striker took to Twitter after the written reasons were posted to say: “I will be speaking without a filter soon.”
Toney placed 29 bets, or ordered bets to be placed, on clubs he was registered with between February 2017 and January 2021.
There were 16 bets on Toney’s team to win in 15 games, in which he played 11. There were 13 bets on his team to lose in 11 games. Of those 13, 11 were against Newcastle United while he was on loan at other clubs. The other two came when Toney was on loan at Wigan Athletic and they played against Aston Villa, but he wasn’t in the squad.
The commission therefore concluded that the Toney case was “not a match-fixing case”.
Toney also placed 15 bets on himself to score in nine matches.
The commission said that, in Toney’s case, “there is a gambling addiction that provides significant alleviation.”
But he concluded that, although it was claimed that Toney “did not properly appreciate the rules (on gambling) before he registered with Brentford (in 2020)”, he was in made aware since 2017 that football betting was banned by the FA. .
Toney also claimed he bet through third parties in order to hide his gambling from his parents, rather than the FA. The commission rejected this request.
Dr Philip Hopley, a “distinguished consultant psychiatrist”, submitted a report in February which found Toney had a “clear history of gambling addiction” after interviewing him twice. Hopley concluded that Toney needed professional help to deal with his addiction.
Hopley’s report led the commission to conclude that “the gambler’s lack of control over gambling is clearly a reflection of his diagnosed gambling addiction”.
“The position appears to be that Mr Toney has stopped betting on football although he still bets on other sports and casino games. He is determined to resolve his gambling problem with therapy at the end of this season. .
Toney’s eight-month football ban ends on January 16, 2024, but he is cleared to return to training in September.
Brentford also released a statement when the commission’s report was released, saying they considered the matter closed.
The Premier League side added that they will “from now on do all they can to provide support to Ivan and his family to deal with the issues raised in this case”.
GO FURTHER
Ivan Toney’s betting ban puts all of football to shame, not just him
(Photo: Getty Images)
