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FA chief Mark Bullingham ‘has NOT told England manager Gareth Southgate to leave Ivan Toney out of his 26-man World Cup squad over gambling allegations – he insisted the decision was made entirely for football reasons’
- The FA ‘didn’t tell Gareth Southgate to reject Ivan Toney over gambling charges’
- FA CEO Mark Bullingham ‘said his decision was only made on football grounds’
- Toney is under investigation by the FA for 232 separate breaches of gambling rules
- The Brentford striker could be suspended at least until the end of the season
- World Cup 2022 news LIVE: Follow the latest news from Qatar HERE
England coach Gareth Southgate was not told to leave Ivan Toney from his World Cup squad over gambling allegations, according to the FA, according to the FA.
The Brentford striker was charged with 232 separate betting rule breaches this week and faces at least a suspension until the end of the season.
Toney, who is the third-highest goalscorer in the Premier League this season behind Erling Haaland and Harry Kane, was in the running to make Southgate’s 26-man squad earlier this month, just missing out forwards Callum Wilson and Marcus Rashford.
FA chiefs ‘didn’t tell Gareth Southgate to leave out Ivan Toney over gambling allegations’
The FA is investigating the striker over 232 betting rule breaches between 2017 and 2021
According to ITVFA CEO Mark Bullingham has not told Three Lions boss to reject Toney over his gambling fees.
Instead, he insisted it was Southgate’s decision to only leave Toney out on football pitches.
Sports mail revealed on Wednesday that a report following the FA’s investigation into Toney’s gambling allegations is about 2,800 pages long.
FA CEO Mark Bullingham (R) ‘says Southgate chose to only let him out on football grounds’
It is believed that Toney did not bet against his own team, an offense that could cause a life ban, but he could have bet that Brentford would win games, leading to a six-month suspension amongst other possible penalties if he was caught in violation.
The allegations cover the period from February 2017 to January 2021. At the start of the investigation Toney took to Twitter to issue a statement.
It read, “I am aware of a story about me in a national newspaper today. I have assisted the Football Association with their investigation and will not comment until the investigation is complete.
“I am a proud Englishman and it has always been my childhood dream to play for my country in a World Cup final.”
England flew to Qatar on Tuesday ahead of their World Cup opener against Iran next week.
When the FA began its investigation, Toney took to Twitter to release a statement about the investigation