Sandro Tonali’s agent says Newcastle star battling gambling addiction
Sandro Tonali's agent has suggested the Newcastle star is battling a gambling addiction.
Tonali is the subject of a police probe into illegal betting and was sent home from international duty with Italy.
The 23-year-old remains under investigation, but sources in Italy suggest he could face a worldwide ban of 18 months from football.
Tonali's agent, Giuseppe Riso, has been speaking at an event at the Italian embassy and said: «He is playing his most important game — against betting addiction.
»He’s in shock, he’s very sad. He has to face this situation. He is training at the moment (at Newcastle). He told me he trained very well. He can play Saturday.”
Under FA rules, the £60million signing is still eligible to play while under investigation.
talkSPORT's chief football correspondent Alex Crook gave an update on the situation on Tuesday afternoon.
He said: “Three Italian players have been named in this ongoing investigation into so-called illegal betting. Another of them also plays in the Premier League in the form of Nicolo Zaniolo at Aston Villa. We’ve got the Juventus midfielder, Nicolo Fagioli, who’s been named as well by authorities in Italy.
“Interesting to hear the comments from the Italian coach, Luciano Spalletti, this morning, saying that Tonali is, 'absolutely distraught' that he’s been caught up in this investigation and that it has had a negative effect on Italy ahead of their preparations for what is a huge game in terms of qualifying for the next Euros. So this could be advantage England tonight.
“There were reports circulating in Italy yesterday that Tonali possibly was going to plead guilty in order to lessen his sentence. Now, the key to this in terms of a ban is whether or not these players were actually
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