Longest bans in Premier League history: Eric Cantona, Joey Barton, Ivan Toney and more
- Planet Sport writer
- 17 May 2023
Planet Sport takes a closer look at some of the longest bans in Premier League history.
Brentford striker Ivan Toney has been suspended from football for eight months.
The England international's punishment, which will see him banned until January, comes after he admitted 232 breaches of the Football Association's betting rules.
Here, we take a look at other Premier League players who have been handed lengthy bans.
Joey Barton - 13 months
In April 2017, when he was playing for Burnley, Barton was suspended by the FA for 18 months for placing bets on 1,260 matches between March 2006 and May 2013.
Soon after, with the midfielder having been released by the Clarets, that was reduced on appeal to 13 months.
Abel Xavier - 12 months
The Portugal defender received an 18 month-ban from UEFA in November 2005 after testing positive for an anabolic steroid following a match for Middlesbrough against Xanthi in the UEFA Cup.
The suspension was cut to a year by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in the summer of 2006 and Xavier resumed playing for Boro the following season.
Mark Bosnich - nine months
The FA gave Bosnich a nine-month suspension in April 2003 after he failed a drugs test for cocaine.
The former Australia goalkeeper was fired by Chelsea and lost his appeal against the ban.
Eric Cantona - eight months
In one of the most memorable incidents in English football, Eric Cantona kung-fu kicked a Crystal Palace supporter having just been sent off while playing for Manchester United in 1995.
The Frenchman admitted a criminal charge of assault, for which he was sentenced to community service, while also receiving a £30,000 fine and an eight-month ban by the FA.
Rio Ferdinand - eight months
In December 2003, following a two-day FA disciplinary hearing, Ferdinand was banned for eight months for missing a drugs test in September of that year.
With an appeal failing, the suspension saw the centre-back sit out the remainder of Manchester United's season and England's Euro 2004 campaign.
