England Soccer Player Who Bet On Own Team To Lose Has Suspension Reduced After Being Diagnosed As Gambling Addict

Published|Updated

English soccer player Ivan Toney was looking at a 15-month suspension after accepting 232 breaches of the Football Association's (FA) rules on betting. Instead, the 27-year-old has been hit with an eight-month ban after a psychiatry expert diagnosed him as a gambling addict.

Toney, a striker who has made one appearance for England in 2023, reportedly placed 13 bets on his own team to lose in seven different matches between August 2017 and March 2018. According to ESPN, he did not play in any of the matches he wagered on.

The FA published its verdict on Friday revealing that it originally pushed for a 15-month ban, but reduced it to eight months after Toney plead guilty on top of his diagnosis of being an addict.

Toney shared a tweet on Friday morning saying he'll soon address the situation.

Toney's current club, Brentford, released a statement shortly after the FA's report explaining that he's banned from all football activities for eight months.

READ: THE NCAA MIGHT HAVE A GAMBLING PROBLEM, AND NOW THE STAKES ARE GETTING HIGHER | TREY WALLACE

"Brentford FC has received and accepted the written reasons of an independent Regulatory Commission that handed Ivan Toney an eight-month ban from all football and football-related activity after he admitted breaches of FA Rule E8, relating to placing bets on football."

"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."

Toney has been with Brentford since 2020 scoring 63 goals in 111 appearances. He began his professional career at Northampton Town before a three-year stint at Newcastle beginning in 2018.

Tags
Written by

Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.