Newcastle’s Tonali given two-month ban for betting breaches
Newcastle midfielder Sandro Tonali has been given a suspended two-month ban after admitting to breaches of Football Association betting rules.
The Italian, 23, will not serve the ban if he does not commit further breaches before the end of next season.
He is already serving a 10-month ban running until August for offences during his time in Italy.
Tonali was charged by the FA in March and admitted placing between 40 and 50 football bets after joining Newcastle from AC Milan last July, including four on the Magpies’ results.
The FA said the money placed on the bets by Tonali, who has also been fined £20,000, would have been “well in excess of 100,000 euros.”
Tonali’s four bets on Newcastle were all on his side to win, the FA said. He played in three of the four fixtures.
Newcastle said Tonali is “continuing to follow a therapeutic plan and educational programme with the club’s full support and will continue to train with his team-mates”.
An independent regulatory commission heard the process has had a “profound effect” on the midfielder and “is something he does not want to experience again”.
The independent commission, in summarising the evidence, said the FA contended it was “highly unlikely” that it “would have ever become aware of Tonali’s misconduct but for his admissions”.
The written reasons issued on Thursday stated the four Newcastle matches Tonali admitted betting on were:
- 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 was also confirmed Tonali took part in an FA training programme about betting in August, nine days before his offences began, but he had not fully understood the content because of “his English being extremely limited”.
