'Try & stop diarrhoea with willpower!' - Paul Merson labels Ivan Toney & Sandro Tonali bans a 'disgrace' as ex-England & Arsenal star claims football is being 'ravaged' by gambling addiction

Brentford forward Toney's eight-month ban for breaching 232 betting rules ended in January, while Newcastle midfielder Tonali is still serving his 10-month sentence. Merson has been open about his issues with addiction during his playing days, including gambling, since retiring in 2006. He has slammed the punishment handed to the Premier League duo as a "disgrace", while highlighting the systemic issues with sporting betting in the modern game.

The former Arsenal and England midfielder told the BBC's Sacked in the Morning podcast: "People have no respect for the gambling addiction. 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 won an impressive two league titles, one FA Cup, one League Cup and a European Cup Winners' Cup during his time with the Gunners, alongside 21 caps for England. But his career was plagued with both gambling and alcohol addictions that lasted long into his non-playing days. Merson is now clean but feels that gambling is more of an issue in football than alcohol, as he added: "It [gambling] is big in football, it's a hidden addiction because it's a hard one for managers to get hold of. 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% gambling and 30% 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."

Alongside the Gunners, Merson turned out for Aston Villa, Middlesbrough and Walsall during his playing days, with the latter club being his only stint as a manger. And he reveals that even that tenure was ruined by his addiction problems. "My only regret in football is I failed miserably at Walsall. At the time my addictions were raging with drink and gambling," he said. "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."

Toney has impressed at Brentford since returning from his eight-month ban, with those performances earning himself an England call-up for friendlies against Brazil and Belgium in the coming days. Tonali, meanwhile, remains sidelined until his 10-month ban comes to an end in August.