AC Milan have publicly denied any prior knowledge of Sandro Tonali’s gambling addiction, amid threats of further punishment for the Newcastle star.
The 23-year-old Italy international was found to have breached gambling regulations by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC). As a result, he was banned for 10 months from all activities related to football, coupled with an additional eight months of therapy-assisted rehabilitation. FIFA then officially approved this suspension, making it applicable on a global scale.
Tonali joined Newcastle earlier in the summer from AC Milan in a £55m ($68m) transfer and there have been suggestions from various quarters that the Rossoneri were aware of his gambling addiction. Meanwhile, Magpies sporting director Dan Ashworth also did not rule out the possibility, but insisted it is “really hard” to be sure of the same.
“It’s really hard for me to get into what other clubs are doing or not knowing,” Ashworth said. “All we can do is look at our own internal investigation and internal process. It’s a really difficult question for me to answer, I just don’t know.”
This prompted the Lombardy club to issue an official statement in response to Ashworth’s statement.
“We first learned about Tonali’s addiction through media reports and what we know is only what we read. We don’t know anything else.”
The FA have also reportedly launched a separate investigation to find out if Tonali continued his habit after moving his base to English shores as his agent Giuseppe Riso admitted the player struggled with a gambling addiction..
Tonali will not be available for selection for Newcastle until the end of August 2024 and the club are considering bringing in a replacement in the winter transfer window for the midfielder.