Ivan Toney has said he believes the investigation into his gambling breaches was made public in a “spiteful” way in advance of England’s World Cup squad being announced last year.
The Brentford and England striker, who was last month banned for eight months after he accepted breaking the Football Association’s betting rules, has said that missing out on the Qatar tournament was a “bigger punishment” than his current suspension.
The first newspaper reports of the investigation into Toney’s historical betting emerged just a few days before Gareth Southgate named his England squad for the World Cup in November.
Speaking on the Kick Game YouTube channel, Toney said: “People try to break people down. How it come out, just before the England camp, obviously missing out on the World Cup… In a way, it was kind of like: ‘get out now so you don’t go [away with] England’.
“And then all of a sudden they want to wait until the end of the season… But it is what it is. They wanted to do it that way. I call it a bit spiteful. You just have to get on with it.
“I feel that was a bigger punishment, even though I am missing eight months of football. That was a bigger punishment, missing out on the World Cup. It’s everybody’s dream. I believe in myself and hopefully I can be at the next one.”
Following Toney’s omission from the squad in November, FA chief executive Mark Bullingham insisted that the striker had not been chosen for sporting reasons.
“He was absolutely available for selection,” Bullingham said. “He was not chosen on footballing grounds.”
Toney has since been supported by Southgate, who has strongly criticised the nature of the striker’s ban and said it is not the way “to look after people”.
Toney has been diagnosed with a gambling addiction and has now said that more should be done to help vulnerable people to be steered away from betting.
“For people who need help, there should be more around that to stop them leaning towards that direction,” Toney told Kick Game. “When the time is right I will speak out on the majority of things and clear a few things up that need to be cleared up.”
Toney agreed that there are “double standards” in football, saying: “The fact is, the majority of football teams now are sponsored by gambling companies.”
The 27-year-old will not be able to play again until January next year and will not even be allowed to return to training with Brentford until September.
He said he does not want any sympathy and vowed to come back a “different animal” when he makes his return to the pitch.
“The club has been very helpful,” he said. “Very supportive. Everybody at the club. And obviously loads of other footballers have messaged me as well. The support is good. But how I am, I don’t want anyone to feel sorry for me.
“If I have done whatever before, a punishment is a punishment. Get on with it. I just want to focus on when I come back to training. I want to be a different animal when I come back. Playing in the league, it’s going to be frightening.”
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