Brentford striker Ivan Toney faces six-month ban for betting charges

Brentford striker Ivan Toney faces a lengthy ban after his betting case was put before a disciplinary panel.

Toney has enjoyed a superb season for Brentford, scoring 20 goals in 33 Premier League appearances to put the Bees on course for a top-half finish.

The 27-year-old striker made a deserved England debut earlier this season, and has been linked with big-money moves to Manchester United and Arsenal.

However, it's betting allegations made against Toney, rather than transfer speculation, that have placed his future into doubt.

In November, Toney was charged with 232 breaches of Football Association rules in relation to betting, and was hit with a further 30 charges in December.

The alleged bets stretch as far back as 2017, when Toney was a Newcastle player on loan at Scunthorpe.

It's believed that Toney has admitted some of the cases, and that on Tuesday he gave further evidence before a FA disciplinary panel.

Toney slammed previous reports that he admitted to any cases, and said there should be an investigation into leaks at the FA.

Toney could be slapped with a six-month ban if found guilty of enough charges, although some of that could be served over the summer.

The case has already been running for six months, but his appearance before a panel suggests that the process is drawing to a conclusion.

Image: Alamy

Despite making his England debut earlier this season, Toney missed out on Gareth Southgate's England World Cup squad just weeks after the allegations were made public.

Addressing the subject last week, Brentford manager Thomas Frank was not overly concerned about the situation.

"I am pretty sure we will know where we stand before the season ends or just after the season so we can react, potentially," he said.

"Right now we are in a good position. We have four good players in Kevin Schade, Yoane Wissa, Bryan Mbeumo, Keane Lewis-Potter.

"But we have to wait until the result of the hearing before we do anything. But we are prepared if we need to do anything."

With 53 points from 36 games, Brentford are closer to the European places than relegation in just their second Premier League campaign.