Italian international midfielder Sandro Tonali, who plays for Newcastle, has been banned for 10 months for involvement in illegal sports betting on football matches, the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) announced on Thursday.
Gabriele Gravina, president of the FIGC, explained that the 23-year-old player has been suspended for a total of 18 months, but that he will serve an effective sentence of 10 months, and that the remaining eight will be served in therapy sessions in centers for young footballers and associations for recovering addicts.
“We can’t just think about punishing young people if we don’t also help them recover,” Gravina said, adding: “I think eight months of lectures on honesty and good behavior are worth much more than a month of suspension. “
Tonali, who became the most expensive Italian player ever last summer when he transferred from AC Milan to English club Newcastle for 64 million euros, is the second footballer to be punished for illegal betting, after his compatriot Nicolo Fagioli, who was banned for seven years. months.
Sandro Tonali was suspended longer than Fagioli, due to the aggravating circumstance that he had always bet on Brescia and AC Milan to win when he played for their respective teams, but he benefited from the fact that he cooperated with the investigation.
The Italian midfielder, who has 15 caps to his name, will miss the rest of the season and will not be present at Euro2024 if Italy qualify.
On Wednesday, the Italian midfielder was used as a substitute in the match between Newcastle and Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League, which the English lost 1-0.
In addition to Tonali and Fagioli, a Juventus player, Italian Nicolò Zaniolo, of Aston Villa, is also being investigated in the same case of online betting on unauthorized sites.
Newcastle manager Eddie Howe said last week that despite the investigation that targeted the player and led to today’s sentencing, “the club is committed to Tonali for the long term”.
Source: DN
