Newcastle midfielder Sandro Tonali, 23, has received a suspended two-month ban for breaking Football Association betting rules. I
f he doesn’t breach the rules again before next season ends, he won’t have to serve the ban. Tonali is currently serving a separate 10-month ban, set to finish in August, for past offenses in Italy.
In March, Tonali was charged by the FA for betting on football matches, including four on Newcastle’s games, after joining from AC Milan in July. He admitted to placing between 40 and 50 bets, with the total amounting to over £85,000. The FA also fined him £20,000. All four bets on Newcastle were for them to win, and Tonali played in three of those matches.
Newcastle stated that Tonali is still undergoing therapy and education with the club’s backing and will keep training with his teammates. An independent regulatory commission noted that the process had a significant impact on the midfielder, and he doesn’t want to go through it again. The commission also highlighted that Tonali’s admission was crucial, as the FA might not have discovered his actions otherwise.
The four Newcastle games that Tonali acknowledged betting on were listed in the written reasons that were released on Thursday:
- an accumulator involving either Newcastle to beat Brighton on 2 September 2023 or to beat Burnley on 30 September;
- an accumulator including Newcastle to beat Brentford on 16 September;
- a single bet on Newcastle to beat Manchester City on 27 September;
- an accumulator including Newcastle to beat West Ham on 8 October.
It’s been confirmed that Tonali attended an FA betting training session in August, just nine days before his offenses started. However, he didn’t fully grasp the content because his English skills were very limited.
