ROME: Italy midfielder Sandro Tonali, as Newcastle had feared, is being banned from football for 10 months over breaches of rules on betting on matches in Italy.
The punishment will be extended worldwide meaning the 23-year-old, who cost the Magpies a record £55m in the summer, must sit out the remainder of the season. The ban also applies to national team matches so Tonali will miss the Euro 2024 fials in Germany next June if Italy qualify.
In the meantime he is permitted to train with Newcastle and play in friendlies.
Tonali must also attend treatment sessions for problem gamblers and give a series of talks about his experience over a further eight-month period as part of his deal with Italian authorities.
The Italian federation acted after an investigation by Turin prosecutors into players using illegal websites to bet on games.
Tonali had been assisting the investigation and his legal team have been working on a plea bargain after he admitted to making bets on AC Milan to win games in a hearing at the Italian Federation in Turin.
FIGC president Gabriele Gravina said Tonali was suspended for 18 months but that eight of those months were commutable by attending treatment for gambling addiction and making at least 16 public appearances at centres for young soccer players and associations for recovering addicts.
Gravina added: “We can’t just think about punishing the boys and not helping them recover. I think it’s worth a lot more, rather than a month ban, eight months of giving talks about what they went through, in an honest way and with the right behaviour.”
Tonali came off the bench during Newcastle’s 1-0 defeat to Dortmund on Wednesday evening and manager Eddie Howe said the club is “committed to him long-term.”
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