As part of the Sandro Tonali saga, it has been asked whether Newcastle United could claim compensation from AC Milan or not pay the remainder of the fee due if it emerges the Rosssoneri knew of his gambling.
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Craig Hope of the Daily Mail is one of the journalists who has (repeatedly) asked if Milan knew anything about Tonali placing bets on games involving the Rossoneri and what the repercussions of that could be.
The Athletic have now addressed the claims that Newcastle could void the deal in some way, or that they are owed compensation, or might get out of paying the full €70m transfer fee agreed with Milan.
They state that there ‘is no suggestion that Milan knew anything about his alleged activities’, and so there is ‘little possibility of this being an option’ as it ‘depends on a very high burden of proof that they deliberately mischaracterised relevant details’.
“It would be a long shot but, theoretically, this is one option Newcastle have, and it may form the basis of legal action, as Newcastle may take the view that Milan fraudulently or negligently misrepresented all material facts,” says Dr Greg Ioannidis, attorney at law and professor of clinical sports law at Sheffield Hallam University.
“This is a fact/evidence-based exercise and it may require a high degree of compelling evidence and certainly something more than what an agent said and/or omitted to say.
“Newcastle must also, from the outset, make it absolutely clear that they had no knowledge of the player’s alleged betting activity and/or were not in a position where they ought to have had such knowledge.”
Another thing that has been brought up is whether Newcastle’s due diligence and checks might have identified the existence of a problem before they agreed to a record deal for an Italian player.
However, one source at a leading due-diligence firm said that while ‘they had been asked to look into managers and directors of football’, they had ‘never been asked to investigate the subject of a potential transfer’.
How much of the fee have Newcastle already paid and how much do they owe? The Magpies will pay Milan the fee for Tonali in instalments as per The Athletic, spreading the initial £55m fee over multiple seasons for FFP and cashflow reasons.
The report ends by saying that Newcastle will still be liable for the remainder of the fee unless something remarkable is uncovered, of which the majority is thought to be owed.
