Ivan Toney diagnosed with gambling addiction after FA reveals he bet on own side to lose

Suspended football Ivan Toney has admitted he has a gambling addiction after the Football Association revealed he bet on his own team to lose.

The Brentford striker was suspended last week from all football and football-related activity for eight months after being charged by the FA in November for 262 alleged breaches of betting rules over a four-year period.

The written research justifying the suspension was published by the FA on Friday and it found Toney had bet on himself to score in addition to betting on his own club to lose.

The FA noted there was no evidence Toney attempted to influence the outcome of a match in order to win his bets.

Of the 262 rule breaches Toney was accused of he admitted 232 of them, he was also fined £50,000 as part of his suspension.

Psychiatrist Dr Philip Hopley attended Toney’s personal hearing and diagnosed him with a gambling addiction.This diagnosis led to Toney's suspension being reduced to eight months.

It has been revealed the forward placed 13 bets on his own team to lose in seven different matches during the 2017-18 season, 11 of these bets were against Newcastle when he was out on loan away from the St James’ Park club.Two other bets were placed on a game between Wigan and Aston Villa, but Toney, on-loan at Wigan at the time, was not involved in the matchday squad.England international Toney also bet on his own team to win 15 different matches and himself to score in nine different matches, the commission found.

The FA had called for a minimum ban of 12 months but the commission reduced it due to his guilty plea and took away a further three months from his suspension owing to his gambling addiction diagnosis.

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"Of particular importance, the Commission finds that a significant reduction should be made to reflect the diagnosed gambling addiction identified by Dr Hopley," the written reasons read.

"The lack of control the player has in respect of gambling is clearly a reflection of his diagnosed gambling addiction. The position appears to be that Mr Toney has ceased gambling on football although he still gambles on other sports and casino games.

"He is determined to address his gambling problem with therapy at the conclusion of this season."

Brentford said in a statement: "Ivan and Brentford FC accept that offences were committed and sanctions were inevitable.

"The commission noted that none of the charges related to events where Ivan could negatively impact his own team. The detail is included in the written reasons.

"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."

Brentford said it looked forward to Toney's return in January.