Brentford and England striker Ivan Toney has been banned from football for eight months for 232 betting offences.
The 27-year-old will not be able to play for his club or country until his suspension ends on January 16, 2024.
Toney is also not allowed to train until September.
A statement from the Football Association (FA) read: “Ivan Toney has been suspended from all football and football related activities with immediate effect for eight months, until and including January 16, 2024, a fine of £50,000 and a warning about his future conduct for breaching FA betting rules.
“The Brentford FC striker was charged with a total of 262 FA Rule E8 breaches between 25 February 2017 and 23 January 2021. The FA subsequently withdrew 30 of those breaches and he admitted the 232 remaining.
“His sanctions were subsequently issued by an independent regulatory commission following a personal hearing. He is cleared to return to training only with his club for the final four months of his suspension effective September 17, 2023.
“The Independent Regulatory Commission’s written reasons for these sanctions will be released in due course, and the FA will wait to review them before commenting further.”
Toney responded in a statement saying he was focused on “come back to play the game I love next season”.
He said: “Today I received notification of my 8 month football ban following an FA Regulatory Committee hearing which took place yesterday.
“I am understandably disappointed that I will not be able to play for the next 8 months. Written reasons for the Board’s decision have not yet been released, so I will make no further comment at this stage other than to thank my family and friends, Brentford Football Club and our fans for their continued support, through what has been a very difficult time.”
Brentford said they are awaiting the release of the written reasons before deciding on their next steps.
A club statement read: “Brentford FC takes note of the decision by an independent regulatory commission to ban Ivan Toney from all football and football-related activity for eight months with immediate effect.
“Ivan was charged with breaches of FA Rule E8 and had a personal hearing earlier this week.
“Brentford FC are currently awaiting publication of written reasons from the Independent Regulatory Commission. We will review them before considering our next steps.
Toney was initially charged with breaking FA betting rules on 232 occasions, which allegedly happened between February 2017 and January 2021.
The FA confirmed in December that Toney had been charged with misconduct in connection with 30 additional offences.
After a Daily Mail article claimed Toney had been investigated by the FA on November 5, he said in an online post on Twitter: “I am aware of an article about me in a national newspaper today.
“I have been assisting the Football Association with their investigations and I will not comment until that investigation is completed.”
Toney played for Scunthorpe United, Wigan Athletic, Peterborough United and his current club Brentford at the time of his alleged lapses.
The England international, who has been capped once by his country, has two more years left on his contract at Brentford.
His last appearance came in the 1-0 loss to Liverpool on May 6 when he missed Sunday’s 2-0 win over West Ham with a hamstring injury.
Toney is not the first footballer to be hit with a ban for betting offences.
In January 2021, Newcastle United and England full-back Kieran Trippier was banned for 10 weeks after telling a friend to ‘bundle’ his reported transfer from Tottenham Hotspur to Atletico Madrid.
Daniel Sturridge was also banned for four months for breaking betting rules. It has been discovered that the former Liverpool striker asked his brother Leon to bet on a possible move to Spanish side Sevilla and gave him inside information during the January 2018 transfer window.
Former Southampton player Matt Le Tissier revealed his involvement in an attempt to manipulate spot bets in his autobiography where he said he tried to “make a few pounds on the first throw-in”. His team-mate prevented the ball from going out of play, however, and although the incident was reported to Hampshire Police, no investigation was opened.
Lincoln City defender Bradley Wood was banned for six years in 2018 after intentionally picking up yellow cards during their cup run.
Former Newcastle winger Keith Gillespie has also admitted betting on matches involving his own team – and once lost £52,000 because he bet on Newcastle beating Stoke City but scoring less than four goals; Darren Peacock scored the fourth goal.
(Photo: Getty Images)