• “People have no respect for the gambling addiction,” said Merson. “We’ve seen that with the bans of Sandro Tonali at Newcastle and Ivan Toney at Brentford.
• Toney was banned for eight months for 232 breaches of betting rules while Tonali’s 10-month ban ends in August.
Image: HANDOUT
Former Arsenal winger Paul Merson says football is “ravaged” with gambling and the bans given to Ivan Toney and Sandro Tonali are a “disgrace”.
Merson says he was a “compulsive gambler” during his playing days and that it is a “hidden addiction” because it is hard for people to spot.
Toney was banned for eight months for 232 breaches of betting rules while Tonali’s 10-month ban ends in August.
“People have no respect for the gambling addiction,” said Merson. “We’ve seen that with the bans of Sandro Tonali at Newcastle and Ivan Toney at Brentford.
“To give people 10-month bans for an addiction that is ravaging football, with sponsorships all over the shirts... They needed help and I don’t think ‘help’ is giving them 10-month bans.
“We underestimate this addiction. We need to show it some respect and not, ‘oh, show a bit of willpower’. I would say to the people who make these rules up and ban people, ‘next time you get diarrhoea, try and stop that with willpower’.”
Merson had a successful career with Arsenal — winning two league championships, one FA Cup, a League Cup and the European Cup Winners’ Cup - and played 21 times for England.
The 55-year-old, who has been addicted to gambling his entire adult life, believes it is now much more of an issue in football than alcohol.
“It’s big in football, it’s a hidden addiction because it’s a hard one for managers to get hold of,” he told the Sacked in the Morning podcast.
“It’s easy to hide. If a player comes in who’s been out drinking ‘til four o’clock in the morning, you know.
“But if they drop 200 grand at a casino or betting, you never know until it’s too late.
“Talking to Tony [Adams] about Sporting Chance [rehabilitation clinic], it’s gone from 70-30 in terms of drinking over gambling to the other way round - it’s 70 per cent gambling and 30 per cent drinking. That tells you it’s a massive thing.
“With gambling, clubs think, ‘well, it’s not harming them really — it’s not going to affect their game’. But it will affect their game more than drink.
“I used to think I was a bad person who was trying to be a good person but I wasn’t, I was an ill person who needed to get well.”
Merson also played for Aston Villa, Middlesbrough and Walsall — and it was at the Midlands club that he got his only taste of life as a manager.
“From the age of about 28, I’d always wanted to be a football manager. I learned nothing at school. I just loved football,” he added.
“My only regret in football is I failed miserably at Walsall. At the time my addictions were raging with drink and gambling.
“I thought I’d be a really good manager. I really did. I played under some top managers. I always listened and took it in but I just couldn’t do it when it came to me. I just wasn’t good enough.”