Premier League club Brentford player Ivan Toney opened up on his betting addiction revealing that he was last involved in such an act “years” ago and has been clean for months now.
Toney was handed an eight-month ban after he admitted breaching 232 betting rules following months of investigation.
The 27-year-old, in an exclusive interview with Daily Mail, revealed that his last bet was years ago also added that he doesn’t want to talk much about his past as it makes it difficult for him to move on.
“Years ago. Yeah, so it’s all sorted now,” Toney said when asked about when his last bet was. “You just look back and look at the money you’ve lost and what that could have gone towards. These kinds of things. But the more you do that, the more you drive yourself crazy.
“I literally couldn’t tell you (how much I’ve bet). The more I think about it, the more I dwell on the past. It will haunt you even more and pain you.
“I didn’t bet on anything else apart from football. Not really. Maybe a horse at the Cheltenham Festival but that was it. The past is the past, so why let it hurt you?”
Toney will be back in action during Brentford’s home encounter against Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
The forward’s aim is to impress England’s head coach Gareth Southgate with all the time he will get for the remainder of the season so he can make his case strong for the Euro 2024.
Newcastle United’s new signing Sandro Tonali was found guilty of breaching betting rules earlier this season, Toney was asked if he would like to advise the former Milan midfielder.
“I don’t want to preach to him. I’m glad he is being allowed to train with the team – that will be good for his mental health. I hope he is coping well and will come back stronger,” Toney said.
“Around the time I got banned. I wanted to keep myself to myself and be around my family more than trying to be out there being a spokesperson for all sorts of things. At the time, my head wasn’t really focused on doing those kinds of things.
“I want to own it and get on with it. I’ve done it. The punishment is done. It is what it is. You can’t change what’s done,” he concluded.
