The Italian Nicolo Fagioli, a Juventus player, was punished this Tuesday by the prosecutor’s office of the Italian Football Federation with a seven-month break from playing, due to the so-called betting case in which he was investigated for illegal online betting sites. The midfielder, who was the first player to come to light in the scandal in which his compatriots Sandro Tonali (Newcastle) and Nicolo Zaniolo (Aston Villa) are also under investigation, has reached an agreement with the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) prosecutor’s office. , according to local media.
Fagioli would therefore have admitted to betting on football matches – not those directly involved – which is expressly prohibited by the FIGC sports law. The fact that he reported to the FIGC (Sports Justice) when he found out that he was being investigated by the Turin Public Prosecutor’s Office (ordinary justice), that he had cooperated from the first moment, that he had recognized his addiction and that If he had put it in the hands of professionals to remedy the situation, it would have been the key to reducing the sanction, which in the Code of Sports Justice is considered to be at least three years before the pitch.
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In addition to the 7-month sanction – which, according to local media, will be officially confirmed in the coming days – which effectively ends his season, Fagioli must hold “a cycle of at least 10 public meetings” about the negative effects of the bets to be made within 5 months; He must remain in therapy for at least 6 months and pay a fine of 12,500 euros. Juventus loses its second player this season after Frenchman Paul Pogba was suspended for testing positive for testosterone. Now all that remains is the official announcement of the decision by the FIGC, which will take place after the relevant bureaucratic procedures, the objection deadlines and the final approval of the FIGC Federal Council have expired. Fagioli, who has been receiving treatment from a specialist in the field since the official investigation, has a person who controls his accounts to detect possible betting movements. According to the same sources, in his first statements to the authorities, the player mentioned a single name, that of Sandro Tonali, who would have told him the name of a mobile application and its installation for placing bets.
Tonali, for his part, went to the Turin public prosecutor’s office this Tuesday to testify before the authorities. The 23-year-old midfielder appeared before the prosecutor’s office, accompanied by his legal representatives, to talk about the illegal bets he made for the first time since his interrogation by the police last Thursday in Coverciano (Florence) during a training session with the Italian team . On the same Tuesday, the player’s agent, the Italian Giuseppe Riso, confirmed that Tonali is suffering from playing problems and that he is already being treated by specialists. “It is very important that the players do not feel alone during this time. “Sandro plays a more important game compared to the betting: he has accustomed us to big games and I am sure he will win,” Riso said at a meeting with FIGC President Gabriele Gravina at the Italian Embassy in London .
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“I hope that your experience saves the life of Sandro, who understood that he must face his problem decisively and has already started a path in this direction. I hope it also saves the lives of those children who may not be so well off and make the same mistake,” he added. In addition, Riso emphasized Newcastle’s support for his player: “I would like to thank the club for supporting Sandro, who is training and could play on Saturday.” The former Milan player follows in the footsteps of his compatriot Nicolo Fagioli (Juventus), whose Cooperation and proactive attitude in correcting mistakes before the authorities helped him reduce a penalty initially imposed for allowing betting on football matches that was at least three years to seven months away from the playing fields.
Italian Aston Villa player Nicolo Zaniolo is the third to be investigated. He has, for now, denied betting on football matches, which would avoid sporting sanctions, and he would only focus on ordinary bets, as he did so on illegal online sites.
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