Ivan Toney has responded to additional revelations about his ban for gambling on football matches with a cryptic message posted on social media.
The England striker was banned for eight months last week, and fined £50,000, after admitting to 232 breaches of the Football Association’s betting rules and the full written reasons behind the suspension were released as a report by the FA on Friday.
They included the fact that Toney bet on his own team to lose on 13 occasions – although he was not in the matchday squad for any of those games – and that the 27-year-old had his suspension reduced from 15 months to eight months after being diagnosed as a gambling addict.
Shortly after the report came to light, the Brentford forward posted on Twitter, writing “I’ll speak soon with no filter”.
A couple of hours later, he then took to Instagram and posted a short message on his stories that gave an insight as to his reaction to the information.
Toney wrote: “I used to rush to defend myself against false accusations but now I watch to see who believes it so I know who to cut off first.”
The report that was released also showed that Toney admitted to lying to the FA about betting on football and providing inside information to a friend on when he was starting a game, while he also bet on himself to score in a number of matches when it wasn’t widely known that he would be in the starting line-up.
He was going to be handed a 15-month ban for his breaches but the suspension was ultimately cut to eight months because he pleaded guilty and was diagnosed with a gambling addiction.
Psychiatrist Dr Philip Hopley attended Toney’s personal hearing and diagnosed the England international with the addiction.
“The commission finds that a significant reduction should be made to reflect the diagnosed gambling addiction identified by Dr Hopley,” the report explained. “The lack of control the player has in respect of gambling is clearly a reflection of his diagnosed gambling addiction.
“The present case is not one of match-fixing. If it was, the charges would have been pursued under different provisions.
“There is no evidence that Mr Toney did or was even in a position to influence his own team to lose when he placed bets against them winning, he was not in the squad or eligible to play at the time.”
