Brentford striker Ivan Toney has been suspended from all football-related activity for eight months for breaching Football Association betting rules.
Toney’s suspension will start with immediate effect, meaning he will miss Brentford’s final two games of the season – at Tottenham on Saturday and at home to Manchester City on the final day.
Toney will be banned until January 16, 2024, and has been fined £50,000 after he admitted to the alleged breaches.
An independent regulatory commission imposed Toney’s sanctions and he will not be allowed to train with his Brentford team-mates until September 17.
Toney, 27, was charged with 262 breaches of FA rule E8 between February 25, 2017, and January 23, 2021. The FA subsequently withdrew 30 of these breaches and he admitted to the remaining 232.
The one-cap England forward, who has scored 21 goals in 35 appearances for Brentford this season, has the right to appeal the punishment.
In a statement, Brentford said they were “awaiting the publication of the written reasons of the independent regulatory commission. We will review them before considering our next steps.”
“The FA do the investigating and the charging but then they hand it over to an independent commission. That’s normally made up of people very senior within the game but also lawyers, former high court judges.
“They look at the facts and decide what sanction is suitable. They’ve decided that Ivan Toney, as a result of those 232 charges he’s admitted to and been found guilty of, should get an eight-month ban from all football.
“That means matches, training and potentially turning up to matches. He will not be allowed to be involved in football until January of next year. That’s a significant punishment.
“We ought to point out that Ivan Toney can appeal this but we don’t know if that’s going to happen. The statement from Brentford said they would consider their options and with such a huge asset unavailable to them for so long, they will want to reduce that if they possibly can I am sure.
“But the way these things work, they will have the written reasons from the commission which they’ve been given. They’ll examine those very carefully with their lawyers and will then decide what action to take next after consultation with Ivan Toney.”
Source: Sky sports
In other news-Nigerian preacher Chris Okafor set for a three-day prayer conference in Harare
Various gospel musicians are set to converge at the Harare Gardens for a three-day prayer conference which starts on the 19th of this month.
The event is part of a religious tourism drive being spearheaded by the EEG and World Outreach Ministries.
Guests are expected to come from neighboring Southern African countries including Zambia, South Africa, and Eswatini. Learn more
