Brentford head coach Thomas Frank feels the FA's focus should've been on rehabilitation and education, as opposed to ostracising, after Ivan Toney was diagnosed with a compulsive gambling disorder.
The 27-year-old is serving an eight-month suspension from all football and football-related activities after being found guilty of 262 breaches of FA Rule E8 between February 2017 and January 2021.
Toney's conviction overshadows what has been an outstanding individual season for the centre-forward; ranking third for goals in the Premier League heading into the final weekend with 20, behind Harry Kane (27) and Erling Haaland (36), and making his England debut as a substitute in a 2-0 win over Ukraine in March.
He is not permitted to train with Brentford until mid-September, leaving him to his own devices for the next four months. This has raised concerns over the FA's approach to dealing with addiction, with Gareth Southgate expressing his concern over the neglect of their duty of care.
"What bothers me is we've got to look after people," Southgate said.
"I don't like the idea that we just leave somebody, that they are not allowed to be part of the football community.
"I don't think that's how we should work. I don't think that's how the best rehabilitation programmes would work."
Thomas Frank echoed these comments during his final pre-match press conference of the season, ahead of Sunday's fixture against Manchester City, stating that the focus should be on education and helping him overcome his addiction, instead of just throwing the rulebook at him.
“I’m bang on with Gareth. I think it was a fantastic point he made," Frank said in agreeance.
"Yes, Ivan did something wrong, he got punished for it, he got the sanction. What I, on a personal note, don’t get at all is how can you not let him be involved in football the first four months? What do you gain from that? If you want to rehabilitate people, give them education, do some things.”
He later added:
"There’s no doubt for me [that in] the first four months he can’t be involved in football, he should be forced to go to 100 schools telling about his background, football, everything. I think that’s how it should work.”
FA report not a priority for Frank
With the arrival of the Premier League champions at the Gtech Community Stadium on the horizon, it was anticipated that conversation would be about the possibility of Brentford ending a memorable campaign in a European spot.
However, the FA had other plans as the written report was released in the morning outlining all the necessary details in the investigation into Ivan Toney's activities, leading to an onslaught of questions about his star forward.
"The opening question I thought that would be about what a season you guys have had. You're still in the mix last game of the season, sneaking into Europe. Unbelievable! But, of course, I understand why you start with the other one," he joked.
The report outlined that an independent regulatory commission imposed the sanctions following the discovery that Toney had placed and/or instructed bets on competitions that his club was participating in or were eligible to participate in that season.
It was uncovered that out of the 126 bets and/or instructions to bet, 29 of them were in relation to the club he was on loan with at the time, with 16 of them on his own team to win. He played in 11 of those and was an unused substitute in another.
The other 13 of the 29 were on his own team to lose in seven matches between August 2017 and March 2018, while he was on loan at Wigan Athletic. 11 of the bets were against his parent club Newcastle United while the other two were on a game between Wigan and Aston Villa - a fixture he was not involved in the squad.
He placed and/or instructed the bets on him to score in nine different matches, in addition to providing inside information to a friend that he was going to start in Wigan's 3-2 win against Fleetwood Town in March 2018.
Despite some of the bets being placed on teams he was registered with, the independent regulatory commission deemed that 'there is no evidence Mr. Toney did or was even in a position to influence his own team to lose when he placed bets against them winning'.
Frank admits that he has not read the report, nor is it of his concern, as his primary focus is on preparing for the final game of the club's second season in the Premier League.
"On a personal note, it's nice to know the full background about the sanction.
"I must admit, I haven't read any of it because I don't think it's [for] me. I'm not the lawyer, I'm actually trying to get the lads out there to win a football match on Sunday. I'm focusing on that."
The 49-year-old went on to suggest that football's relationship with gambling organisations needs to be reviewed and this situation is a "massive reminder" to make sure clubs do enough to educate their players.
“I think he’s an example for all in the football world to learn from because we also need to review the relationship between football and gambling.
"I don’t have the answer, I don’t think it’s me that needs to answer that question, it must be some even more clever people than me that can find out a good solution about that."
Frank continued:
"We definitely got a massive reminder of ‘do we do enough to educate our players’, I think that’s a big thing. I think the football authorities have a massive task to make sure that we do this much better.”
Brentford need to beat the "best team in the world" to achieve European dream
Heading into the final round of fixtures of the Premier League season, Brentford remain in contention to claim a European spot in the table for the first time in their 144-year existence.
It is an uphill task for the Bees, and one that requires them to complete the double over a City side in contention for a historic treble, while needing Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur to fail to beat their respective opponents.
The objective throughout the campaign has been to finish as high in the table as possible, and to take that step into European qualification would be the icing on the cake on what has been an incredible season.
Frank has been downplaying the occasion to his players, considering what's potentially at stake, and insists that the focus is on beating what he describes as the 'best team in the world' first.
"We have an opportunity to go to Europe, and we know the biggest thing that we need to get ticked [off] is to beat the best team in the world, which is very difficult, so we are only focusing on that, and then we will see if the other results go our way."
While the main focus is on achieving an historic feat for the club, Frank is hoping Sunday's fixture will have a party atmosphere and be a celebration of what will be the club's highest league finish since 1938.
"I know we have a lot to play for but I hope Sunday is going to be a celebration of football. We're playing against the best team in the world, we're playing at home, we've had a fantastic season, let's do everything we can to finish off in style."
Failure to qualify for Europe would not be an opportunity missed
Brentford could have had more favourable odds to qualify for Europe this weekend had they been able to kill the games against those just above them in the table.
In 2023 the Bees have held a winning position five times in the matches against 7th-placed Villa (1-1), 8th-placed Tottenham (2-2), as well as 6th-placed Brighton & Hove Albion (3-3) before going on to drop six points, with two of the equalisers conceded in the 87th and 90th-minute.
Upon the end-of-season reflection, these results will be highlighted as potential turning points in how Brentford's season concludes. While Frank says as a coach he will naturally look at these games with disappointment, he will take great pride in what has been achieved over the past ten months, regardless of Sunday's outcome.
"I will look at [it] a different way," he told VAVEL.
"I look at what a season and we are still in it one game to go. But that's the downside of being a coach, I will also look back at some of those games and think 'maybe we could've got a few more points', but every coach will do that.
"When I look back in general, I am very proud of the season and very proud of what we have achieved so far.
"The boys have one aim, that is to win on Sunday and do our very best, and see if we can get in, even though it will be difficult."