Juve star Fagioli hit with seven-month gambling ban

Nicolo Fagioli's season is all but over after the Italian Football Federation on Tuesday banned the Juventus and Italy midfielder for seven months for gambling offences.

In a statement the FIGC said that Fagioli had been given the ban for betting on football matches, an activity which is forbidden for professional footballers, after admitting his guilt and negotiating a plea bargain.

The FIGC said that Fagioli's sentence was officially 12 months but that five of those had been commuted into a "treatment plan" centred on combatting gambling addiction.

Fagioli, 22, must take part in "at least 10 public meetings to be held within five months, at amateur sports associations and both local football federation and gambling addiction recovery centres" according to a FIGC programme.

The FIGC added that Fagioli's plea bargain would be terminated and that he would be subject to further disciplinary proceedings should he not adhere to that programme.

Fagioli has been a rising star of Italian football since returning to Juve last year following a loan spell at Cremonese and has played once for his country.

However, he won't be available for Juve, who have already suffered the scandal of France star Paul Pogba failing a doping test, until mid-May by which time there will only be two games left in the season.

Fagioli could have been banned for as long as three years had he not struck a deal with the FIGC's disciplinary authorities and shown that he was taking steps to combat an admitted gambling addiction.

His punishment is the first in a betting scandal which exploded while the Italian national team was preparing for two crucial Euro 2024 qualifiers with Malta and England.

GAMBLING SCANDAL

The FIGC investigation is running parallel to