Ivan Toney suspended for betting on England: Hypocrisy, when you catch us!

Ivan Toney, who has scored 20 goals in 33 Premier League appearances this season, will not be replaced by Thomas Frank when Brentford Ogre host Manchester City at the Zitec Community Stadium on May 28. Ivan Toney, in fact, will not play again until 17 January 2024 after being found guilty of 232 breaches of paragraph E8 of the FA Code of Conduct in Sports Betting.

An eight-month suspension is heavy, when a professional player’s career is fifteen years longer for the lucky ones. Tony discovered the Premier League in 2021, when he was already twenty-five years old. A trip like Jamie Vardy, then. A great story was cut short by the harsh application of a regulation that did not elaborate when punishing footballers who succumbed to the temptation to place bets.

Is Tony more the victim than the perpetrator?

In other words, Tony is not a criminal. He is the eleventh English footballer who has spent more time with a bookmaker these days than Ray Parlor or Paul Merson toasting their wages in a pharmacy near Highbury. A few clicks, done. This is how addictions are born. Every year, 400 Britons die by their own hands. Thousands lose their jobs, homes, spouses. No, these are not criminals. These people need our help and the help of their communities.

Yes, Tony crossed the yellow line and recognized it. But here he is being treated the way some judges treat shoplifters – aws, in jail! – They are content to fine city fraudsters.

However, the FA binds bookmakers…

The reaction of the English public left little doubt of his sympathies. Not trying to justify the crimes of any player who knew exactly what he was doing and knew the risks he was exposing himself to. But almost everyone pointed out that the severity of the commission sent by the FA was hypocritical.

Who has the FA chosen as its official amateur football sponsor? Pitching In. What is Pitching In? An ‘effort’ to support ‘roots’ football, we promise. Apart from the fact that the initiative is fully funded by the Entain Group, it is one of the Moloch sports betting in the UK, with over four billion in annual revenue shared by brands known to all British punters. : bWin, Coral, Ladbroke, Sportingbet and some.

Yes, the FA forces its amateur clubs to parade their shirts with a brand directly controlled by the bookies.

However, one is tempted to say that this is only a detail when it comes to the osmotic spread of English football and sports betting operators, many of whom operate directly within or outside the confines of the law, and this English football is careful. Didn’t ask questions. You should have heard him scream when the British government decided to change the regulations governing the activities of bookmakers in the UK.

Like many Premier League clubs

Finally, the lobby bookies- And football – won in his case. A white paper recently published by the British authorities suggests only superficial reforms that would not affect the mutually beneficial relationship between online betting operators and English football’s elite. , the official sponsor of the English Football League.

And who is Evan Toney acting for? Brentford. Principal Sponsor: Hollywood Bets, a South African bookmaker. Who owns Brentford? Matthew Benham, owner of SmartTods, is a “Statistical Research Institute“His clients are big bettors (whose identity is unknown) who want to beat the bookies at their own game. Benham is a former business partner of Tony Bloom, owner of Brighton, a former poker player with Starlizard, another “Statistical Research InstituteIt taps into the same market as Smartodds.

Premier League clubs, in their own initiative, have pledged not to take on these eccentric operators, who primarily target betting customers from China and other extreme countries, as shirt sponsors. East, where is it – but who cares? – Betting on football matches is illegal. Many, most, perhaps all, are controlled by the triad of Macao, Singapore and Hong Kong.

A beautiful travesty of English football

May they rest in peace. If they can’t advertise their brands on the chests of Premier League players, as they do today with the likes of Fulham, Newcastle or Crystal Palace, they can still fall back into the arms of the shirts. On the LED panels of PL stadiums, their messages will continue to be broadcast in Vietnamese, Thai and Mandarin.

Steven Gerrard was the official ambassador for Chinese website Yahoo when he was Rangers manager. The criminal network Yahoo was taken down by Chinese authorities in 2021. Gerrard later moved to Aston Villa and another Asian operator, M88, where he still works as a sandwich man. PL found nothing to complain about.

This is not a double standard. Worse than that. This is a riot of hypocrisy that should shame English football. But greed blinds you. If you have to punish someone, you might as well punish Evan Toney. Make an example, after all, what does it cost? Nothing.