Frank: It would be 'WRONG' for the FA to ban me from speaking to Toney

Thomas Frank insists it would be ‘WRONG’ for the FA to ban him from speaking to Ivan Toney during the Brentford striker’s eight-month ban… and calls for football’s chiefs to educate players on gambling after being served a ‘massive reminder’

Brentford manager Thomas Frank insisted it would be ‘wrong’ if the FA to prevent him from communicating with Ivan Toney during the striker’s eight-month ban.

The FA revealed the written reasons behind Toney’s lengthy suspension on Friday, which was issued earlier this month after the Bees forward pleaded guilty to 232 breaches of the governing body’s betting rules.

The 27-year-old is unable to play for both England and Brentford until January 2024 and is not permitted to train with his domestic club until September, leaving him with no option but to work out on his own in order to stay fit. 

As the suspension bans Toney from football altogether, the striker is forbidden from from communicating with his managers and team-mates, but Frank urged hours after the FA’s report that he would continue speaking with his forward.

‘If I can’t speak to him, I guess they will have to ban me as well. If I am not allowed to support him there must be something wrong,’ Frank said during his press conference on Friday.

Thomas Frank insisted he would continue speaking to Ivan Toney during his eight-month ban

‘Football and gambling’s relationship needs a review. We got a massive reminder. Do we do enough to educate our players? The authorities have a massive task to make sure we do this much better.’

Meanwhile, Toney – who has faced the wrath of Newcastle fans following the FA’s reasoning – gave a cryptic six-word response over social media, tweeting: ‘I’ll speak soon with no filter’.

The governing body revealed that Toney has been diagnosed with a gambling addiction by a psychiatric professional since the launch of their investigation and is ‘determined to address his gambling problem’ at the end of the season.

In the FA’s bombshell report, published on Friday, it was revealed that Toney:

  • Placed 13 bets on his own team between August 2017 and March 2018, with 11 of those made against Newcastle, his parent club, while on loan at Wigan
  • Informed a friend that he would start his next club’s match in March 2018
  • Used other people’s accounts to place bets despite initially denying the allegations
  • Admitted to lying during his first interview with the FA when questioned about the gambling charges
  • Suspected of having a separate mobile phone to place bets, which he did not hand to the FA during their investigation.
  • Still bets on other sports and casino games and is ‘determined to address his gambling problem with therapy’ during the ban

More to follow. 

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