With each passing day more information seems to come out regarding the betting saga surrounding Sandro Tonali and some of his Italy team-mates.
According to the latest from La Gazzetta dello Sport, Tonali will negotiate a fine with the Federal Prosecutor’s Office quickly, and the most probable hypothesis is that an agreement can be reached before Wednesday’s Champions League match between Newcastle and Borussia Dortmund.
This is also to avoid embarrassment and ending up in a sort of limbo with a footballer who has in fact admitted all his responsibilities, having violated the ban on football betting, and a team that could in formal terms still be able to field him in field.
It is difficult to predict the extent of the sporting penalty. Certainly, a plea agreement with the same methods as Nicolò Fagioli, the seven-month ban without games and five months of therapy seems like it will not be enough.
It is more likely that the actual disqualification will be for a year (or a little more), perhaps with more robust provisions. Moreover, the existence of any new evidence – as we have already seen in the capital gains case involving Juventus – could still lead to a reopening of the file.
Tonali made a confession without hesitation or omission and above all the contents of the two interrogations at the Federal Prosecutor’s Office and that of Turin appear to be overlapping and without contradictions.
Tonali admitted that he had bet, that he had bet on football and that he had gambled on Milan, and probably also for Brescia at the time when he played for them.
However, something key emergeD: he always bet on his team to win. If that wasn’t the case, the chapter of sporting and criminal offence would have immediately opened because it could lead to spot or match-fixing.
In any case, his problem didn’t arise yesterday. This can also be seen from the medical certification with which he presented himself for the interrogation with the FIGC prosecutor Giuseppe Chinè last Sunday.
Tonali’s gambling addiction is therefore full-blown, as in the case of Fagioli. It is therefore probable, if not certain, that the willingness to respect an already defined therapeutic path is part of the sporting penalty.
Tonali met the prosecutor in a private place before being spoken to in Turin. Even if the investigations on his mobile phone have not been concluded, omitting information or denying charges would have been truly reckless which is why the investigators are convinced of the credibility of his testimony.
This must take into account what Fagioli reported: “It was he who suggested Icebet [one of the illegal platforms] to me and there were rumours in the community that he also had huge debts around.”
In truth, the former Milan player denied this claiming he has no debt and there is no threat from those who had lent money, but he does have a compulsive fatal attraction towards gambling. Both on legal sites (but not for footballers when they bet on football) and on illegal ones.
Tonali did not bring up the responsibility of other players. Neither the Newcastle player nor the Juventus player spoke about Nicolò Zaniolo, who is still registered in the register of suspects in Turin.
The feeling is that at this moment there is no evidence that goes beyond the two players already known, despite the various lists that populate some social media streams.
Fagioli more worst , have 3m euro debt while his salary only 1m euro nett/ years. This gambling addicted seems like disease on Italy NT players
I don’t think the total debt has anything to do with the issue. That’s his personal problem now. The issue is the breaking of the prohibition against gambling and the specifics of on what, when and how many times he placed bets, and if he was involved in the games on which he bet. Fagioli got this punishment for his circumstances. It does seem as though Tonali will get at least a year, plus treatment, etc.
He said, that started to gambling, because he was borring and had a lots of free time. What a stupid person! Why you did not read some books, or go to study some school, or go to shop, or do some humanitarian work…? They have millions and they do not know what to do in a free time? I really do not know, does he has a brain at all?
Bro it happens. In an interview Pirlo said he was playing FIFA one afternoon and then later that night he was a World Cup winner 🤷♂️
A certificate of addiction….. Risso actually got him a certificate….. WHAT. A. JOKE.