Gareth Southgate, England’s head coach has accepted that he is risking an embargo from the English Football Association after talking with suspended Brentford striker Ivan Toney before his current England squad announcement.
Ivan Toney of Brentford was not included in the team for the forthcoming Euro 2024 qualifiers against North Macedonia and Malta next month, due to his eight-month ban for betting offences.
Gareth Southgate has challenged Toney’s eight-month ban from football, saying he worries the Brentford star has been abandoned.
The FA suspended Toney, 27, for several violations of their betting regulations, making it impossible for England’s manager to include him in his team for the Euro 2024 qualifiers against Malta and North Macedonia.
Ivan Toney cannot train with his club side until September and he is banned from playing until January 16.
On Wednesday, May 24, after announcing his squad for June international break, Southgate questioned the terms of the discipline set by his employers.
Speaking about Toney’s suspension, Gareth Southgate said; “I have spoken with Toney, I don’t know if that’s allowed, by the way. If it isn’t then they can ban me and not add to his ban”.
“Look, the ban is the ban. It is what it is. He recognized and accepted the punishment. What bothers me is we’ve got to look after people”.
“I don’t like the idea that we just leave somebody so they are not allowed to be a part of the football community”.
He added: “I don’t think that’s how we should work, I don’t think that’s how the best rehabilitation programmes work”.
Gareth Southgate was asked whether Toney could still be named in his squad for Euro 2024 next summer. He said: ” Without a doubt, it is possible for him”.
“I like his personality, I like his belief and the way he goes about his job, so everything is still possible for him”.
Toney made his England national team debut in a qualification win over Ukraine in March, and Southgate thinks the team should do more to help him.
In Toney’s absence, Southgate added Callum Wilson of Newcastle United as a striker backup for captain Harry Kane. Marcus Rashford of Manchester United is another option to start in the center of the attack.
What happened to Ivan Toney?
Toney admitted to 232 violations of the Football Association’s betting rules and was fined £50,000 in addition to being barred from playing until January 2024.
Toney played for Scunthorpe and Wigan on loan from Newcastle before joining Brentford permanently in 2020, during which time he was found by an independent panel to have violated FA Rule E8 232 times. On January 16, 2024, he will be able to return to football action.
According to the FA, Toney infringed Rule E8, which stipulates that players may not “bet, either directly or indirectly, or instruct, permit, cause, or enable any person to bet on” matches.
Due to this, Toney is prohibited from participating in “all football and football-related activity with immediate effect” and will not be able to train with his Brentford colleagues until midway through September.
What Brentford plans for Ivan Toney;
Despite the betting restriction, Brentford intends to begin contract talks with Toney at the end of the season.
They know they won’t get many bids in the £50 million range for Toney this summer, so they’re prepared to take whatever they can get.
To celebrate their promotion to the Premier League from the Championship in 2020-21, and their survival in the league, the Bees wish to demonstrate their appreciation for a player who has scored 21 goals so far this season.
Toney has two years left on the £20,000 per week contract he signed three years ago after being acquired for £10 million from Peterborough United.
Brentford’s elevation to the Premier League the following year resulted in a small raise for him, but his goalscoring record suggests he might fetch a weekly salary of £150,000 elsewhere.
The attacker has scored 21 goals in 35 games for Brentford this season and has one cap for England.
What’s next for Ivan Toney?
There had been reports that he will be transferred during the summer, but with him missing the first half of next season, that appears quite impossible.
Who’s Ivan Toney?
Ivan Benjamin Elijah Toney is an English professional football player who plays as a striker for the England national team and the Premier League club Brentford.
Ivan Toney’s age;
Toney was born on the 16th of March 1996, in Northampton, England. He is currently 27 years old.
Ivan Toney’s career;
Toney made his Northampton Town debut in 2012 at the age of 16, becoming the club’s youngest-ever player.
Before joining Newcastle United in 2015, he scored 13 goals in 60 games across all competitions.
He spent his first year with Newcastle on loan twice to Barnsley, where he helped the club win the League One play-off and the Football League Trophy.
In the subsequent two years, he played for three different League One clubs on loan: Shrewsbury Town, Scunthorpe United, and Wigan Athletic.
Toney signed a long-term contract with Peterborough United in 2018 for an undisclosed amount, and in 2019-20 he led League One in scoring and was voted the league’s Most Valuable Player.
The next season, he joined Brentford, where he would go on to score a then-record 31 goals and lead the team to promotion to the Premier League.
After helping Brentford to a top-half finish with 21 goals, he was suspended from football for eight months in May 2023 for 232 violations of the Football Association’s betting rules.
Toney was called up to the England national team for the first time in 2022, and he debuted the following year in 2023.
