da lvbet： Sandro Tonali won't play again until next August after being found to have used illegal betting sites to place money on games involving his own teams

da apostaganha： Sandro Tonali came on midway through the second half of Newcastle's Premier League win over Crystal Palace at St James' Park on October 21. The Italian's introduction was warmly received. The home fans even unfurled a banner in his honour. "Forza Tonali" it read.

Eddie Howe praised the crowd for their show of support but acknowledged that "the hardest part is ahead" for the £60 million ($72.5m) summer signing from AC Milan – and the Newcastle boss was right. Tonali came off the bench again in the Champions League loss to Borussia Dortmund four days later but, the following afternoon, it was confirmed that the Italy international had been banned from playing football for 10 months.

So, why exactly has Tonali been suspended? And who else has been implicated in the biggest betting scandal to rock Italian football since '' more than 40 years ago? GOAL will attempt to explain all below…

GettyHow it began: The King of Paparazzi

On August 2, Fabrizio Corona, a hugely controversial media figure in Italy known as 'The King of Paparazzi', claimed Juventus and Italy midfielder Nicolo Fagioli was suffering from a "serious gambling addiction" and was heavily in debt as a consequence.

On October 10, newspaper revealed that Fagioli was being investigated by public prosecutors in Turin as part of a probe into illegal online betting platforms. The player's legal representatives then issued a statement claiming that their client was cooperating fully with the authorities and had been the first to inform the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) of his involvement in the affair at the end of August.

"With reference to the news that appeared in the press today, we can state that our client is facing the matter with responsibility and a view to maximum transparency and collaboration with the ordinary and sporting judicial authorities, as demonstrated by the fact of being the first to take action in a timely manner with the federal prosecutor’s office [of the FIGC]."

Corona subsequently claimed that "Juventus knew about Fagioli from August 1" and that they "failed to report it to the judicial authorities", but the club quickly countered, "With regard to what has been reported by some media outlets, Juventus FC specifies that as soon as it received news of the possible involvement of its player Nicolo Fagioli in the issue of betting, it immediately and promptly contacted the FIGC Federal Prosecutor’s Office."

AdvertisementGetty/GOALTonali and Zaniolo implicated

Two days after the publication of 's story, police officers turned up at Italy's training base at Coverciano to question both Tonali and team-mate Nicolo Zaniolo, and inform the pair at they were under investigation by the Turin Public Prosecutor's Office. The pair were promptly released from international duty.

"Regardless of the allegations, we believe in this situation the players are not in the necessary condition to face the commitments scheduled in the next days," read a statement issued by the FIGC. "The Federation has decided, also to protect them, to allow them to return to their respective clubs."

Italy coach Luciano Spalletti had no qualms about the decision to send the two players home. "When you have to bring home results, there is always anxiety [before a game], but it was a different night, with a lot of bitterness for what happened," he said the following day. "The whole team is close to Tonali and Zaniolo, we are very sorry for them and we will continue to be close to them, even though they have the spotlight on them. We must try to help them defend themselves.

"But it is also right that justice takes its course and, if irregular things have been committed, then it will be right [for them] to pay."

GettyFagioli agrees plea deal

On October 17, Fagioli was suspended for 12 months, of which five were suspended, and fined €12,500 (£10,800/$13,300) as part of a plea bargain that will see the midfielder carry out community service and undergo treatment for his gambling addiction.

Fagioli's full co-operation had been crucial to the lenient sentence because the usual ban for breaching Article 24 of the Code of Sports Conduct is at least three years, which would have placed his top-flight career in considerable doubt.

As it was, Juventus pledged their "full support for Nicolo Fagioli in tackling this path, as well as providing the player with the necessary support in carrying out the indicated therapeutic plan and, as expressly provided for in the agreement, collaborating with the Federation to outline the scheduled appointments.

"We are firmly convinced that Nicolo, with the support of the club, his team-mates, his family and the professionals who will assist him, will face the therapeutic and training process with a great sense of responsibility and, once the disqualification has been served, will be able to return to competing with due serenity."

GettyScale of Fagioli's problem exposed

The following day, both and the , published extracts from Fagioli's deposition that highlighted the scale of his gambling problem. "The worst moment was between April and March 2023, when I was so scared that I made a mistake during Sassuolo-Juventus and I was subbed off," he reportedly told prosecutors. "I started crying when I sat on the bench, thinking about my debts and betting problems…

"At night, I had stopped sleeping. The more time passed, the more debts haunted me. My debts kept increasing and I was gambling just to try to make up. They told me 'We’ll break your legs.' I had so much debt that even if I had won, I would get nothing out of it…

"I had accumulated a debt of €250,000 (£218,000/$265,000) in September 2022 and pressure from managers of illegal platforms started. Sometimes, I would cover part of the debt by going to Milan and buying luxury watches. I paid with a bank transfer. Sometimes I delivered the watches myself, other times, the platforms' owners picked them up at the jewellery shop.

"After September 2022, I started gambling compulsively in front of the TV on any sporting event I watched, including football, Serie B and Lega Pro. I can’t even remember how many events I placed bets on…

"I borrowed money from some of my team-mates, saying I wanted to buy a watch for my mum. [Federico] Gatti gave me €40,000 (£35,000/$42,000) and I still have to return it. [Radu] Dragusin [now at Genoa] also gave me money and some of my friends in Piacenza too."

Fagioli, whose debts eventually ended up totalling €3 million (£2.6m/$3.2m), claimed that not one of his team-mates knew the real reason for the loans, while he also insisted that he never bet on matches involving either Juventus or his former club, Cremonese.