The Football Association delivered a hefty suspension to Ivan Toney. His eight-month ban from football and football-related activities rules him out through the remainder of 2023 and into 2024. The Brentford striker also must pay a fine of roughly $62,500 to the FA as a result of his betting activities. The ruling comes after the investigations of an independent regulatory commission.
Toney accepted the 262 charges of illegally betting on matches during a timespan running from 2017 to January 2021. In the beginning, the English striker was on loan from Newcastle at third-tier side Scunthorpe United. He was at Brentford at the conclusion of these charges.
The Ivan Toney suspension rules out one of Brentford’s most pivotal players for an extended period. For reference, this is the third-longest ban to ever come down in the Premier League. The longest was Eric Cantona’s nine-month ban for kicking a fan in 1995. Then, in 2002, Chelsea’s Mark Bosnich almost picked up a nine-month suspension for a failed drug test.
As a result of the suspension, the earliest Toney can return to play is January 16, 2024. However, he can return to training as early as September 17, 2023, according to the FA’s statement.
Ivan Toney suspension has widespread consequences
In the immediate effect, Toney’s temporary departure should not mean too much to Brentford’s season. The Bees already secured a top-half finish in the Premier League table. Yet, much of that is a credit to Toney’s output in front of goal. Toney has 20 goals in the current Premier League campaign, good enough for third across the league. That included a brace against Manchester City at the Etihad.
Including the 2022/23 campaign, Toney led Brentford in goals in all competitions in each of the last three seasons. That includes a blazing 31 in the Championship as Brentford won promotion to the Premier League in a playoff where Toney scored the game-winning goal.
His success over recent seasons made him a top priority among Premier League clubs looking for goals. Manchester United, for example, was potentially in the market for Toney this summer. With this ban, though, that appears to be dashed. Also, this seriously hampers Toney’s prospects of making it into the England squad. The ban does include international action, and Toney was a candidate to compete with the Three Lions in its games this summer and fall.
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