“Newcastle United acknowledges a misconduct charge received by Sandro Tonali in respect of alleged breaches of FA Betting Rules,” referring to the latest charge from the FA, a Newcastle statement read.
“Sandro continues to fully comply with relevant investigations and he retains the club’s full support.
“Due to this ongoing process, Sandro and Newcastle United are unable to offer further comment at this time.”
What is the controversy?
In October 2022, FIGC (Italian FA) suspended Tonali for 18 months but eight of those months were commutable by attending treatment for gambling addiction and making at least 16 public appearances at centres for young soccer players and associations for recovering addicts. The ban was imposed for alleged involvement in illegal betting activity during his time at AC Milan where he won the Serie A title.
The latest betting charges from the FA come for placing bets between 12 August and 12 October 2023. This comes as a surprise for the player who only made his move to English football in July and was constantly active in betting activity. The 23-year-old has until April 5 to respond to the charges imposed on him by the FA.
The FIGC suspension came as a huge blow to Newcastle United, having secured the signing of Tonali on a $70-million deal from AC Milan.
The ban imposed in October has seen Tonali’s Newcastle season come to an end while its extension to international matches will also see him miss the Euro 2024 for Italy. His suspension in October meant he became the second Italian player to be banned from football in a betting scandal that came to light. Juventus’ Nicolo Fagioli was suspended for seven months by the FIGC’s disciplinary tribunal in October 2023.
