England striker Ivan Toney pleads not guilty to assault at London nightclub

[p]The 30-year-old, who plays for Saudi club [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/al-ahli/tCs21SDo/"]Al Ahli[/a], is accused of headbutting and punching Saber Da Silva at a club in the Soho area of central London last December.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/toney-ivan/W6A3dA7c/"]Toney[/a] stood in the dock at Westminster Magistrates' Court to confirm his name and age, and pleaded not guilty to a charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.[/b][/p][p]The forward, wearing a black top over a shirt and tie, was accompanied by three members of his entourage as he arrived at the court.[/p][embed guid="37ad9b83-18f5-4d09-9673-2a1f0a8a1fa8" url="https://x.com/SkyNews/status/2105593228015583696/video/1" social-type="twitter" /][p]Prosecutor Tom Heslop told the 10-minute hearing the alleged assault happened at the 100 Wardour Street club during a "confrontation" between Toney and Da Silva.[/p][p]District Judge Briony Clarke said the case could be tried in the magistrates' court, but Toney elected for a Crown Court trial in front of a judge and jury.[/p][p]He was freed on unconditional bail until a hearing at Southwark Crown Court on October 29th.[/p][p]In a statement, his spokesperson said: [b]"Ivan acknowledges the charge and although he is naturally shocked, he looks forward to being given the opportunity to clear his name in court."[/b][/p][p]The former [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/brentford/xYe7DwID/"]Brentford[/a] player has played for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/england/j9N9ZNFA/"]England[/a] 10 times, scoring one goal. He was part of the 2026 World Cup squad but is not in the latest Nations League squad.[/p]