FUTURE LOOKS DICEY
IVAN TONEY gambled and lost – big time.
And it’s a safe bet the England and Brentford striker will regret his actions for the rest of his life.
That’s because he will now have to spend the next eight months wondering how he could have been such a fool.
He will not kick a ball in anger and might feel like sticking his foot through the TV screen instead, each time he watches a game he knows he would have been involved in.
Toney will also face a tough battle to earn a place in Gareth Southgate’s England squad for next summer’s Euros.
And the chances of the Bees’ 20goal striker securing a dream move to Tottenham in the coming weeks as a potential replacement for Harry Kane have also gone up in smoke. But whose fault is all of the above? We know the answer.
But there is a wider picture here to be considered when discussing the fact another top-level footballer has fallen foul of the strict betting rules concerning those involved in the sport.
Thanks to similar behaviour from Joey Barton and Kieran Trippier, Toney is not the first – and won’t be the last – to make bad choices.
But he earns his living in a sport infested with gambling companies who sponsors shirts, advertising hoardings and even stadiums.
Their presence has become part of the fabric of the national game.
Also, if a player admitted to being an alcoholic, would the FA ban him for eight months as a punishment?
No.
Instead, the individual concerned would be offered counselling and other treatment in the hope he could beat his obvious demons.
Which is what Toney needs right now, for the foreseeable future and even for the rest of his life perhaps, if he is to restore his career and repair his now damaged life.
His mental wellbeing could also be at risk – but what practices are in place to help the vulnerable?
Toney is a now a stark lesson to both current and future footballers.
And it’s a simple one – just don’t gamble, because the only winner is the person or firm you’re giving your money to.