Details of the rule breaches that led to Ivan Toney being banned from football for eight months have been released by the FA.
Earlier this month, the Brentford striker was banned until January 2024 after pleading guilty to 232 breaches of the FA's rules and regulations surrounding betting on football matches, and the details of those breaches have now been revealed.
At least 29 of the bets were placed on Toney's own team, while 15 were placed on the player himself to score.
The FA had initially wanted to hand Toney an even more severe ban, given he had attempted to conceal his betting activities in full knowledge that they were against the association's rules.
It was revealed, however, that Toney's ban had been reduced from 15 months to 11 due to his pleading guilty to the 232 breaches, and had been further reduced to eight months after he sought professional help in addressing his gambling addiction.
The FA's regulatory commission also made clear that Toney had not been involved in any match-fixing, and that any bets he placed on his own team to lose were in games that he was not involved in:
The present case is not one of match-fixing. If it was, the charges would have been pursued under different provisions. There is no evidence that Mr Toney did or was even in a position to influence his own team to lose when he placed bets against them winning - he was not in the squad or eligible to play at the time.
Details of Ivan Toney investigation released by FA
Ivan Toney's eight-month ban from all football-related activity is one of the most severe in Premier League history, and came after an investigation into 232 alleged breaches of the FA's betting regulations between 2017 and 2021.
The details of those 232 breaches have now been revealed, and include 126 bets, of which 29 were bets on clubs Toney was associated with at the time, and 15 on Toney himself:
- 16 bets on Toney's own team to win 15 different games - of those games, Toney played in 11 and was an unused substitute in one
- 13 bets on Toney's team to lose in seven different matches. 11 of these were against his parent club Newcastle, while he was on loan elsewhere, while two related to a Wigan game while Toney was on loan at the club, but was an unused substitute
- 15 bets on Toney to score in nine different matches. All of these are set to have been initiated at a time when it would not have been public knowledge that he was starting or playing in the game
- Six bets on particular occurrences in a game Toney did not play in
Two of those four offences carry recommended bans as severe as a life suspension in the FA's rulebook.
Ivan Toney will be suspended until January 16 2024. He has scored 20 goals in the Premier League this season, with Brentford still in with a chance of securing European football on the final day.
Club Statementhttps://t.co/JintKsrSSu
— Brentford FC (@BrentfordFC) May 26, 2023
The club released a statement on Friday morning as the details of the investigation were revealed. In it, they said:
The club will now be doing everything possible to provide support to Ivan and his family to deal with the issues raised in this case. Conversations regarding this and all matters relating to the case will remain confidential in order to protect the player and his family.
We consider this matter closed and look forward to welcoming Ivan back to training in September and seeing him representing Brentford in the Premier League in January.
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