Why Ivan Toney was ‘pictured’ training at Brentford in August despite being banned from attending the facility until September

Brentford striker Ivan Toney has some catching up to do | Imago

Why Ivan Toney was ‘pictured’ training at Brentford in August despite being banned from attending the facility until September

Mark Kinyanjui 17:16 - 24.09.2023

The forward had been instructed not to return to the club’s training ground until September, but pictures of him training at the facility were taken in August.

Ivan Toney was reportedly pictured training at Brentford's performance center "in August' despite being banned from attending their training ground until September

The 27-year-old was banned from all football activity for eight months on May 17 after the striker pleaded guilty to 232 of the 262 betting charges brought against him by the FA last year. 

Toney had been expected to return to training next week after a four-month absence. 

The England forward, who made his debut for Gareth Southgate's side earlier this year is expected to be able to play for the club again on January 16 2024.

The forward had been instructed not to return to the club’s training ground until September, but pictures of him training at the ground were taken, leaving people questioning whether he had violated the orders he was given.

However, according to The Sun, the club have said that the striker was granted  special 'dispensation' to use their training ground.

The report showed pictures of  Toney jogging around the facility which were reportedly taken in August.

Brentford were quick  to issue a statement on the forwards early return which claimed he had not violated the order as he was granted “dispensation” to use their facility. 

“ Ivan Toney was given dispensation by the Football Association to attend club premises during his suspension from football-related activity for rehabilitation work after he suffered a hamstring injury that caused him to miss matches in May.

“ That rehabilitation work involved individual sessions with strength and conditioning coaches and medical staff, including with a football, as per Ivan’s recovery plan.

“ There have been no breaches of FA sanctions, all of which were strictly observed by both the club and Ivan.'

The Sun adds that Toney “practised with the ball at the Bees training ground before being filmed taking part in a solo fitness session with the first-team conditioning coach Matt Bramhall.”

His final game for Brentford came on May 5, a 1-0 defeat by Liverpool at Anfield.  Toney had also notably scoring in his previous outing, helping Thomas Frank's side win 2-1 against Nottingham Forest. 

He missed the final three games of the season, the first with an injury, before his ban stopped him from appearing in the latter two matches, with Toney enjoying a prolific season scoring 20 goals in 33 Premier League matches.