BRENTFORD striker Ivan Toney has broken his silence after the full details of his betting breaches were released.
The 27-year-old has been slapped with an eight-month ban from football.
And it's now been revealed that he has been diagnosed with a betting addiction and put money down on his club to lose 13 times.
Toney took to Twitter after the news and released a short statement.
The striker said: "I’ll speak soon with no filter."
The FA released a statement explaining all of the England international's offences, which included betting against Newcastle while on loan at Wigan and lying when investigations first begun.
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The bombshell report explained that Toney:
- Placed 13 bets AGAINST his own team – 11 against parent club Newcastle and two against Wigan – between August 2017 and March 2018, while on loan at the Latics
- Put 16 bets on his team to win, and 11 time he played in that game
- Informed a friend he would start his next club match in March 2018
- Admitted to lying during his first interview with the FA when questioned about his gambling charges
- Bet on himself to score in nine different matches
- Had his suspension almost halved to eight months for pleading guilty
Toney's ban means he cannot step foot on the pitch again until January 16.
He can also not train with any club until September 17.
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Toney additionally received a £50,000 fine.
Brentford have vowed to stand by the player.
In a statement, Brentford said: "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.
"Conversations regarding this and all matters relating to the case will remain confidential in order to protect the player and his family.
"We consider this matter closed and look forward to welcoming Ivan back to training in September and seeing him representing Brentford in the Premier League in January."
The report reveals Toney put bets – or instructed bets to be placed – 29 times on his own team
The FA said: "Of those 29 bets, there were 13 bets on Mr Toney’s own team to lose in 7 different matches between 22 August 2017 and 3 March 2018.
"Mr Toney did not play in any of those matches where he placed bets against his loan club as he was not in the match squad or against his parent club as he was on loan.
"Of the 13 bets 11 were against Newcastle whilst Mr Toney was on loan at another club.
"The other two bets related to a game between Wigan v Aston Villa whilst the player was on loan at Wigan but he was not part of the squad.
"A further 15 of the 126 bets or instructions to bet were placed by Mr Toney to score in nine different matches all of which he played in."
Brentford have made it clear they supoprt Toney and his family, and insist they believe the matter is closed.
A club statement read: "Brentford FC has received and accepted the written reasons of an independent Regulatory Commission that handed Ivan Toney an eight-month ban from all football and football-related activity after he admitted breaches of FA Rule E8, relating to placing bets on football.
"The judgement has been published on the FA website. 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 player has been capped once by the Three Lions and he has netted 20 Premier League goals this season.
England boss Gareth Southgate revealed on Tuesday that he was concerned by the ban.
He said: "Not being allowed to play is one thing but not being allowed to be within the football community, we have to be really careful how we do that.
“He accepted the punishment. What bothers me is we must look after people. He’s injured, what does he do about getting fit?
“How do we give him structure over the next few months so he can be a better person at the end?
“I don’t like the idea we leave somebody so they aren’t allowed to be part of the football community.
“I don’t think that’s how the best rehabilitation programmes would work.
“I’m not questioning the decision on the ban. I’m thinking about the player and how I help them.”
Remember to gamble responsibly
A responsible gambler is someone who:
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- Establishes time and monetary limits before playing
- Only gambles with money they can afford to lose
- Never chase their losses
- Doesn’t gamble if they’re upset, angry or depressed
- Gamcare – www.gamcare.org.uk
- Gamble Aware – www.begambleaware.org
- For help with a gambling problem, call the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133 or go to www.gamstop.co.uk to be excluded from all UK-regulated gambling websites.
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