Brentford striker Ivan Toney was banned from football for eight months with immediate effect on Wednesday after admitting 232 breaches of the FA's betting rules; Toney will be banned until January 16, 2024, and has been fined £50,000, but it only covers English football
Thursday 18 May 2023 17:54, UK
The FA will apply to FIFA to make Ivan Toney’s eight-month ban from football a worldwide sanction, Sky Sports News has been told.
It means the Brentford striker, who was suspended on Wednesday with immediate effect until January 16, 2024 and fined £50,000 after admitting 232 breaches of the FA's betting rules, would not be allowed to go on loan to a foreign club while he serves his punishment.
The idea was raised as a possibility when it became clear that the sanction - set by an independent commission, but enforced by the FA - applies only to English football.
Sky Sports News has been told that, because any loan or transfer to a foreign club requires the FA to hand over a player's registration, as soon as Brentford hypothetically applied to do so, the FA would inform the buying club's FA and FIFA that Toney is subject to a football ban in England.
At that point, FIFA would, as a matter of procedure, look to apply the ban worldwide. However, to make things more transparent, it is understood that, once the written reasons are published and it's clear whether Toney will appeal, the FA will formally apply to FIFA to endorse Toney's punishment universally.
FIFA's standard procedure would then be to review what the FA has done by setting up its own disciplinary committee to discuss the details, but there is no obvious precedent where FIFA has failed to endorse a worldwide ban in circumstances such as this.
Both Kieran Trippier and Daniel Sturridge, for example, were playing abroad at the time when they were sanctioned for breaching betting rules in England.
Sturridge had to immediately end his contract with Trabzonspor in 2020. Likewise, Trippier missed 10 weeks of football with Atletico Madrid in early 2021.
Tottenham's former managing director of football Fabio Paratici was given a 30-month ban by the Italian Football Federation for his part in the alleged financial irregularities at Juventus.
As a result, he consequently resigned from his role at Spurs - even though technically, his ban only applied in Italy. Had he continued to work at Tottenham, FIFA would have stepped in. Paritici's punishment has since been reduced on appeal.
Toney's suspension will start with immediate effect, meaning he will miss Brentford's final two games of the season - at Tottenham on Saturday and at home to Manchester City on the final day. He will not be allowed to train with his Brentford team-mates until September 17.
The one-cap England forward, who has scored 21 goals in 35 appearances for Brentford this season, has the right to appeal the punishment.
In a statement, Brentford said they were "awaiting the publication of the written reasons of the independent regulatory commission. We will review them before considering our next steps."
Toney later posted on social media to say he was "disappointed" with the ban but would not be commenting further until the written reasons are published.
Brentford want to offer a new contract to Toney despite his eight-month ban from football.
The club plan to hold talks with the striker in the summer with the intention of extending his deal, which will be into its last 18 months once his ban is concluded.
The club had been braced for offers for Toney from big clubs prior to the emergence of his betting discrepancies. Head coach Thomas Frank has recently said the club value him at least at £100m.
And the club now see a window of opportunity to make sure they retain his value, especially if he returns to the Premier League with a bang next year - and puts his name back at the top of club's shopping lists in the 2024 summer market.
Brentford have no interest in penalising Toney for effectively being in breach of his contract, with the majority of his offences having been made before he joined the club.
In fact, they intend to support him and his family in every way possible while he is not allowed to attend the club, and will continue discussions over a potential appeal against the disciplinary commission's sentence once written reasons are published.
May 20: Tottenham (A) - Premier League, kick-off 12.30pm
May 28: Man City (H) - Premier League, kick-off 4.30pm
