13 September 2023 , 15:27
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Nottingham Forest’s Harry Toffolo has been given a suspended five-month ban and fined over £20,000 after admitting to 375 breaches of the FA’s betting rules.
The 28-year-old defender committed the offences between 2014 and 2017 when he was a Norwich City player. He spent time on loan at Swindon Town, Rotherham United, Peterborough and Scunthorpe United during that time.
Toffolo has not had a bet in over six years before his case was flagged by the FA. He was struggling in his career, in danger of falling out of the EFL and sought help with support from his family.
Since then, he has rebuilt his career, reached the Premier League and been supportive in community schemes for the clubs he has played at. The FA took a sympathetic and supportive view because he took steps to recovery and saw him as a good example of turning things around.
Toffolo has made only one appearance for Forest so far this season, coming off the bench for the final 20 minutes of their Carabao Cup defeat to Burnley. He started nine times in the Premier League last season, appearing off the bench on 10 other occasions.
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“Nottingham Forest’s Harry Toffolo has been given a five-month suspension, which has been suspended until the end of the 2024/25 season, and £20,956.22 fine for misconduct in relation to our betting rules,” the FA said in a statement.
“The defender admitted that he breached FA Rule E1(b) 375 times between 22 January 2014 and 18 March 2017, and an independent Regulatory Commission imposed his sanctions following a hearing. The Regulatory Commission’s written reasons for these decisions will be published in due course.”
In May the FA hadned Brentford striker Ivan Toney an immediate ban of eight months after he admitted to 232 breaches of their betting rules.