Toney says he will be 'back soon' after Brentford striker's ban

‘Cream always rises… remember that’: Ivan Toney issues bullish seven-word message on social media as he says he will be ‘back soon’… after Brentford and England striker was hit with an eight-month ban for betting

• Brentford star Ivan Toney was hit with an eight-month ban for betting offences 
• Toney pleaded guilty to 232 of the 262 charges brought against him by the FA 
• He will not return until January 16 next year and cannot train until September 

Brentford striker Ivan Toney has taken to social media to issue a bullish message, insisting he will be ‘back soon’ after his eight-month ban for betting offences.

Toney pleaded guilty to 232 of the 262 charges brought against him by the Football Association last year and his punishment, a lengthy suspension and a £50,000 fine, was handed out earlier this month. He will not play football again until January 16 next year.

The full extent of his betting on football, first reported by Mail Sport in November, emerged last week when the FA published written reasons for Toney’s ban. 

It was revealed Toney had bet on his own club to lose 13 times, lied to the FA to cover up his actions and only avoided a longer ban because he is a ‘gambling addict’. The 27-year-old did not play in any of the matches in question.

The governing body withdrew the remaining 30 charges but Toney remains banned until next year and will not be able to train with his club until this September. 

Brentford striker Ivan Toney has taken to social media following his eight-month betting ban

Toney was diagnosed as a gambling addict after he bet on his own team to lose 13 times

On Instagram, the frontman said he would be ‘back soon’ and insisted ‘cream always rises’

Acknowledging the FA’s extraordinary document, Toney had posted a cryptic six-word response, writing on Twitter that ‘I’ll speak soon with no filter’. 

Now, he has shared another message, telling his followers ‘cream always rises’. The short statement on Instagram was accompanied by football and heart emojis.

It became apparent that the FA pushed for a minimum 12-month ban for Toney due to the sheer number of breaches over a four-year period.

Indeed, the punishment was initially set at 15 months but reduced to 11 after his guilty plea. It was then further lowered to eight months after an independent commission heard evidence from a psychiatrist that he was addicted to gambling. 

The England international admitted he had ‘repeatedly lied’ in an interview with the FA before being charged. Toney insisted ‘time after time’ he did not bet on football, before conceding he had used third parties to place bets and deleted evidence.

Toney’s betting offences spanned between February 2017 and January 2021, when he was registered at Newcastle, Peterborough and Brentford. 

Toney will not return to action until January 16 and is not permitted to train until September

The FA had pushed for a minimum 12-month ban and wanted it to come into effect next season

Brentford have confirmed Toney will not appeal the suspension and offered him their support

He had also spent time on loan at both Scunthorpe and Wigan. 

The FA moved to delay Toney’s ban until the start of next season to increase its impact and severity, although this was rejected by the commission. 

The evidence given by psychiatrist Dr Philip Hopley that Toney is suffering from a gambling addiction looks to have been integral to reducing the length of the ban.

But regardless, Toney is barred from training until September 17 and cannot play friendly matches until his suspension has been lifted early next year. 

As a result, he is unlikely to be fit enough to make a first-team return until much later.

Brentford confirmed Toney will not appeal the suspension and have offered him full support. The Professional Footballers’ Association are also providing assistance.

‘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,’ a club statement read.

‘We consider this matter closed and look forward to welcoming Ivan back to training in September.’

Toney’s ban is one of the longest in football history, equal to that of Rio Ferdinand back in 2003

TONEY’S BETTING OFFENCES

Of the 232 bets Toney admitted to placing:

• 13 bets were made on his own club to lose, although he did not play in any of those games and 11 bets were against Newcastle when he was on loan elsewhere. The other two involved a Championship match between Wigan and Aston Villa when Toney was at Wigan, but not in the matchday squad;

• 15 bets were placed on Toney to score at a time when it was not public knowledge he would be playing, thus potentially benefitting from inside information;

• 16 were on his own team to win in 15 different matches, of which he played in 11;

• 126 bets were on matches in competitions his club were competing in at the time, with 29 involving the club he was playing for.

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