![]() Toney won his single cap for England in March last year as a substitute against Ukraine. ![]() That was rejected by the independent commission that heard the case, as was the FA’s original proposal that it should be the maximum 12 months. The FA’s counsel pushed for the ban, which included the last two games of last season, to be suspended over the summer when there were no games – in order to have maximum effect. Southgate has questioned whether bans for players with addictions are the best way to solve the problem. He admitted in the hearings that led to the sanction that he had a gambling addiction. The 27-year-old was banned last May for eight months and fined £50,000 for 232 breaches of the FA’s gambling regulations for offences that took place between 20. Toney came back to action for Brentford on Jan 20 and hit goalscoring form immediately with four goals in his first five games. Gareth Southgate names his England squad at 2pm for the pre-Euro 2024 friendlies against Brazil and Belgium this month, with Toney expected to be included. The Brentford striker Ivan Toney is set for a surprise return to the England squad today just weeks after the expiration of his eight-month ban handed down by the Football Association for breaches of gambling rules. Long before Southgate’s time, Chris Sutton refused to play for England’s B team, David Bentley turned down an Under-21 spot and Ben Foster took a break from international football.Įngland squad announcement: As it happened In recent years, forward Jamie Vardy made himself unavailable for England duty after the 2018 World Cup, while midfielder Danny Drinkwater ruled himself out, citing family and injury reasons. There are lots of things that are outside of your control and you are not always able to share the details of those things, but that’s the way it has to be.” The very first squad I picked, I had a player call and say ‘thanks but no’. “You always have to find a different solution. “So, there can be all sorts of reasons for that. “Sometimes we’ve had young players that haven’t felt comfortable coming away with England, when I was with the Under-21s and then as they get older, they get more comfortable with it,” said Southgate. Southgate confirmed that White is not the first player to have made himself unavailable for England duty while he has been in charge of the seniors and the Under-21s. I don’t know fully why that is, but I have to respect that.” I spoke to him post-Qatar because I was keen to pick him and there was clearly reticence on his side. “He’s a player that we took to a Euros when he was at Brighton, a player that we took to the World Cup. ![]() “John McDermott had a call from Edu last week to say that Ben didn’t want to be considered for England squads at this time. “But I’m not prepared for that to happen for a key member of my coaching team because that is not the reason Ben is unavailable for selection. For whatever reason in this role, you have to almost stomach that. “People can talk about me and I have to accept that things get said that are false about me. “And also I should say there’s never any issue with Steve Holland because that has sort of been mentioned in articles and I don’t like that. “There is no issue between us at all,” said Southgate. Southgate insisted he did not know the reasons behind White’s decision, but was adamant it was not the result of any fall-out with him or his staff. Because the timing of asking to come off the long-list and the fact that…I don’t have huge credibility, but there would be none if I didn’t pick him on form. “Clearly that is impossible at this point. “In these situations, I’ve tried to protect players,” said Southgate. But, given the way the 26-year-old is playing and the injuries England have, Southgate could not keep the player’s wishes private, even though it may result in White facing a backlash from supporters of Arsenal’s rivals. Southgate insists that he and his assistant Steve Holland have never fallen out with White. He has not played for England since and will not travel to the European Championship this summer, despite his excellent club form that has resulted in a new four-year contract. White was part of the World Cup squad, but left Qatar early for “personal reasons”. Gareth Southgate says he could not trash his own credibility by trying to spare Ben White a potential backlash by keeping the Arsenal defender’s decision to snub an England call-up a secret.Įngland manager Southgate revealed that Arsenal sporting director Edu called Football Association technical director John McDermott to tell him that White did not want to be considered for selection for the friendlies against Brazil and Belgium, and moving forwards.
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