Brentford and England striker, Ivan Toney said he is ‘naturally unhappy’ after being banned from football activities for eight months on Wednesday over breaking betting rules.
Toney, 27, has been banned from playing football until January 2024 for breaking FA betting rules, coming as a major blow for both the player and his club Brentford.
The England international entered pleas of guilty to the majority of the 262 betting-related offences filed by the FA last year, and this week, an independent disciplinary committee sentenced him to an eight-month suspension and a £50,000 fine.
He will not even be allowed to train with Brentford until September after pleading guilty to 232 of the 262 charges related to bets that were placed over a four-year period.
Toney responded to the news by breaking his social media silence and expressing his dissatisfaction with the outcome while pledging to “focus on returning to play the game I love next season.”
‘Today I have received notification of my eight-month ban from football following a hearing before an FA Regulatory Commission that took place yesterday,’ he wrote.
‘I am naturally disappointed that I will be unable to play for the next eight months.
‘The written reasons for the Commission’s decision have not yet been published, so I make no further comment at this point other than to thank my family and friends, Brentford FC and our fans for their continued support, through what has been a very difficult time.
‘I now focus on returning to play the game I love next season.’
Toney’s suspension begins immediately, meaning he will play no part in Brentford’s push for European football in the final two games of the season.
Thomas Frank’s men currently sit ninth, four points adrift of Tottenham in seventh place, with qualification for the Europa League or Europa Conference League still a possibility. They will be without their star striker, who has scored 20 Premier League goals so far this season, for the conclusion of that European bid.
