Sandro Tonali's Newcastle future in doubt as betting scandal rages
When Newcastle United signed Italian midfielder Sandro Tonali this summer, they were thinking about the future.
The 23-year-old Italian had already led AC Milan to a Serie A championship and was hungry for more. In Tonali, Newcastle found a classic regista, a playmaker in the style of legends like Andrea Pirlo or Xavi.
Newcastle believed Tonali could be the engine that would push its midfield into the upper echelon of the Premier League, and it paid heavily for his services: $65M for a five-year contract.
Unfortunately for Newcastle, Tonali's future might not involve as much playing time as the club hoped. The Italian midfielder is in the middle of a betting scandal in Italy that is likely to seem him banned from soccer for anywhere from eight months to three years.
Tonali, along with Aston Villa's Nicolò Zaniolo and Juventus's Nicolò Fagioli, were questioned by Italian authorities last week about whether they'd used illegal online betting platforms while in Italy.
James Horncastle of The Athletic explains that bets with unlicensed bookmakers are a crime in Italy, punishable by either a three-month prison sentence or a sizable fine.
Fagioli, Serie A's Young Player of the Year in 2022, was the first player to be contacted. He immediately cooperated with authorities and admitted not only to using illegal betting sites but also to betting on soccer games — something forbidden by the Italian Soccer Federation (FIGC).
Fagioli's cooperation, along with the fact that he never bet on any of his own club's games, lessened his sentence; he was handed a seven-month ban from the sport along with five months of community service and mandatory therapy for his gambling.
Tonali's situation is not so simple. He admitted to Sky Sports this morning that he had not only bet on soccer on illegal platforms, but also on games involving his own team — albeit games he was unable to play in or influence. With that in mind, Tonali's ban is expected to be longer than Fagioli's ... and that's terrible news for Newcastle.
The English club will now likely be without its talisman midfielder for the rest of the season--and perhaps even for seasons to come.
If Tonali is convicted as expected, he will be the second high-profile Premier League player to be banned on account of sports betting.
Brentford's English striker Ivan Toney is currently serving an eight-month ban for placing 232 illegal bets on English soccer while playing in the English system.
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