Ivan Toney recently revealed the shocking racial abuse he faced on Instagram from a fan who previously called the Brentford star his ‘hero.’
Toney, 27, shared a screenshot of the messages he got from a fan that called him a ‘black monkey’ after calling him ‘the best’ and ‘GOAT’ months earlier.
Toney shared the post and captioned it ‘dam that took a U turn’ after the change in tone of the messages, which were sent between June and August.
Ivan Toney was sent racist messages after the Bees beat Brighton last October, which were reported to the Metropolitan Police.
The person that sent the message – a man – was handed a ban from every UK football stadium for three years and a four-month suspended prison sentence.
Brentford boss Thomas Frank said at that time that he hoped the sentence sent ‘a very strong message’, but added that the punishment was not sufficient.
Brentford also released a statement in that regard, saying: “Ivan Toney has been subject to sickening racist abuse on a regular basis and we want to see tough action taken against anyone found guilty of such abuse.”
Despite his absence, Brentford managed a 2-2 draw against Tottenham in their first game of the season thanks to goals from Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa.
Bee coach Frank said after the game against Tottenham: “They [Wissa and Mbuemo] have a good habit of scoring when Ivan [Toney] is not playing. I am pleased they continued that today.”
“I thought we definitely created more chances. In a relatively tight game, I think we should have won it.”
The Bees also beat Fulham 3-0 with Yoane Wissa and Bryan Mbeumo scoring again with Mbeumo bagging a brace.
Ivan Toney
Ivan Benjamin Elijah Toney is an English footballer who was born on 16 March, 1996 and plays as a striker for Brentford and the England national team.
Brentford striker Ivan Toney has been banned from football for eight months after he accepted to have broken Football Association betting rules.
Toney became the youngest player to represent Northampton Town when he made his first-team debut in 2012.
At Northampton Town, the Englishman scored 13 goals in 60 matches across all competitions before moving to Newcastle United in 2015.
When Toney was at Newcastle, he had two successive loan spells with Barnsley, winning the 2015–16 Football League Trophy and the 2016 League One play-offs.
Ivan Toney moved to Peterborough United permanently for an undisclosed fee in 2018 and he was named both League One top scorer and Player of the Season in 2019–20.
From Peterborough, he signed for his current club Brentford where he helped the club secure promotion to the Premier League after scoring a record-setting 31 goals.
The forward was called up for the first time for England national team in 2023 before he made his first international debut in 2023.
What Happened To Toney?
The breaches Ivan Toney was found guilty of took place between 25 February 2017 and 23 January 2021.
This was during the time the Englishman played for Scunthorpe United, Wigan Athletic, Peterborough United, and Brentford.
The 232 rules breached include:
- 126 bets were in respect of matches in competitions in which Toney’s club at that time participated in.
- Of those 126, 29 were in respect of the club Toney was playing for at the time.
- Of those 29, 16 were on his own team to win 15 different matches. Toney played in 11 of those matches.
- Of those 29, the remaining 13 were on Toney’s team to lose. Toney did not play in any of those matches.
- Of the 126 bets, 15 were placed on Toney to score. They were initiated at a time when it was not public knowledge that he was starting or playing in the relevant fixtures.
The regulatory commission also confirmed that Toney’s case was not one of match-fixing.
Ivan Toney was also fined £50,000 and warned about his future conduct as part of his punishment.
His ban started immediately and is allowed to return to training four months before it ends on 17 September but he will not be allowed to play again until 17 January 2024.
