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By Martin Graham | 2nd Mar 2023
Brentford striker Ivan Toney is set to face a lengthy ban from football after admitting to multiple breaches of gambling rules.
Toney came under fire for the allegations in late 2022 and the FA has been investigating the claims since then. They eventually charged him with breaching 232 gambling laws and were reported to be readying some more charges.
The 26-year-old was slapped with an extra 30 charges in December, rounding up his charges to 262 in total. Toney, on Tuesday, finally admitted to the charges against him and could face a lengthy ban for just those alone.
The FA is set to hold a disciplinary hearing with Toney to examine these charges. Following his admittance to them, however, it is unlikely that the striker could escape punishment which means that he could find himself outside the game for what could possibly be the entire duration of 2023.
The former Newcastle United striker is also believed to be planning to contest a number of the charges in order to escape the lengthy ban that awaits him.
The disciplinary hearing is imminent and could see Toney ruled out of representing the England Three Lions squad in their upcoming international games next month against Ukraine and Italy. It will be a big hit for the 26-year-old, as he has been denied the opportunity to represent the national team thanks to manager Gareth Southgate’s technical choices.
He has only been called up once, back in September 2022, for England’s UEFA Nations League games against Italy and Germany. However, he was an unused substitute in both games. He also missed out on the 2022 FIFA World Cup despite being the highest-scoring English player of the season.
This means that the Brentford attacker is yet to appear for the Three Lions in a match. The impending disciplinary hearing now means that he will have to wait a little longer for that to happen.
Southgate was rumoured to be considering Toney ahead of their upcoming international games thanks to form and fitness issues surrounding the likes of Tammy Abraham, Callum Wilson, Phil Foden and Raheem Sterling who would normally get a spot in the squad.
Toney is currently joint third on the Premier League scoring charts with 14 goals alongside Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford. Only Harry Kane and Erling Haaland are ahead of him in the scoring charts.
His efforts have helped Brentford dream about Europe, and the club acknowledges what losing his services in the coming months could to do them.
Their brief statement after the charges were issued on Toney, however, reads thus: “We note the story concerning Ivan Toney and the FA investigation. The club will not be commenting.”
Martin Graham is an MFF sports writer
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