One of the best strikers this season in the English Premier League, Ivan Toney, will most likely miss the World Cup in Qatar because of unprofessional behaviour regarding 232 sports betting violations. The FA charged him for breaking the ethics rules as an English Premier League player.
FA initiates investigation over Ivan Toney
Since today, there has been no proof that the Brentford striker placed any bets on a match that he played on or against his team. The Football Association (FA) opened an investigation for potential infractions that may happen between February 2017 and January 2021. During these four years of his football career, Toney was a striker for Wigan, Scunthorpe United, Peterborough United, and Brentford recently.
In 2014, the FA banned players from gambling on soccer games worldwide and anything related to soccer, like transfer predictions. Formerly, players were prohibited from betting on matches in which they or their teams were directly involved. Because of this restriction, Ivan Toney is officially under investigation for his potential sports betting activities, and the process has been ongoing for a couple of months.
Qatar World Cup Ban
It couldn’t get worse for Ivan Toney. Just before the Qatar World Cup opening, FA started an investigation, meaning the Brentford star will be suspended from the international tournament and not make the England national team roster. Gareth Southgate, the England soccer manager, reported the national squad for the World Cup; unfortunately, Toney is missing.
We can’t ignore the fact that the controversial striker is also a great penalty-taker. Throughout his professional career, he has attempted 26 penalties and failed to score only one, playing for Portsmouth in the 2nd England championship. The hit rate of this striker is over 96%, higher than anyone else in the recent England national team. Among these names is Harry Kane, with his 86% successful penalty attempts.
It would be great if Toney played for the England team, knowing how horrible their history is for penalties in international tournaments. At the European Championship two years ago, England lost in a shootout to Italy. A successful kick from Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, and Bukayo Saka would have led to the national team’s first major international title since 1966, but they lost the chance at that moment.
Ivan Toney is expected to respond to the FA betting charges by November 24th. If the FA proves the misconduct betting scandal, Toney will get a long-term ban from such championships.
