AC Milan decided to part ways with Sandro Tonali in the summer as a hefty offer (€70-80m) arrived from Newcastle. However, it cannot be understated that this had nothing to do with the betting scandal.
Tonali was ‘in tears’ after police took him away from the Italy camp for questioning and he has since admitted that he’s a gambling addict. The midfielder could be suspended for at least a year, which would be a huge blow for Newcastle.
In his latest editorial for MilanNews, Anto Vitiello shared his thoughts on the peculiar situation. He highlighted that Milan’s decision to sell him in the summer had nothing to do with the betting, which the Rossoneri were not aware of.
“Milan knew nothing, they were unaware of Sandro’s bets and for this reason, Milan will not get any fines or even deductions. The transfer to Newcastle in the summer had nothing to do with betting. A very important offer arrived and Milan accepted it, it was impossible to refuse those figures,” he stated.
It remains to be seen what the outcome of the investigation will be. In any case, we can only hope that Tonali will get the help that he needs to overcome his addiction.
No wonder, he doesn’t smile much on field. Looks dissociated and unconnected even when the team wins an important match. I really feel for him though. I think all Milan fans will stand by u.
Hope he gets through this.
Tonali’s case does make it clear that when Leao is sold and he is replaced by 2-3 players >40M, there is good life for the team on the other side.
They made a good BET in replacing Tonali.
Can anyone name one footballer that was caught gambling and didn’t use the exact same sentence? It is called damage control, not even their words. “I am addicted, I have a problem, I need help. This is bad, and so on.” This is what they are required to say and their lawyers and agents tell them that, or they would get a much higher penalty.
PR 101.
Absolutely.
Or they say they are sorry.
Sorry that they got caught, not because they are sorry of what they were doing.
And all these people that come to their defense are just enabling that behavior.
From FIGC president Gravina who instead of making an example of these guys so no other player dares to do the same in future, he says it’s a social plague. Betting and gambling has existed and will continue to exist. Your job is to make sure people under you don’t do it, not to solve societal issues. I bet there is a betting company as one of the sponsors of FIGC and most clubs.
The hypocrisy.
Fagiolli father is mad at his sons agent who pushed his son to seek help and turn himself in.
Also, let’s not forget, Tonali didn’t turn himself in. Fagiolli ratted him out.
I really wanna see how most people would have reacted if it was Gigio that got caught doing what Tonali did. I bet their reaction would have been totally opposite because they have convinced themselves to believe that Gigio is a bad guy because he left Milan for more money and Tonali supposedly left to help Milan. Yeah, OK 👍.
Ivan Toney got only 8 months and the guy got caught betting on his own team to lose.
Don’t worry about society, clean your own sport. Drop the hammer. 3 years on all of them if proven guilty of betting on games. Couldn’t care less if they played poker. That has no influence on the outcome of the football games. Any vices a football player has outside of the pitch are his own problem. As long it doesn’t interfere with the Integrity of the game, they can do whatever they want.
Thanks a lot again to Inter for not selling Barella to Newcastle.
Sliding door moments. It could so easily have been Milan sitting in this situation. A bit unfortunate given his career prospects, let’s hope they are all learning from this.
I don’t get it, people like him hurt himself by playing with their money and have to be punished as well? Help me to understand here..
*hurt themselves
It’s the rule. I guess it also depend on what matches he bet on. If not involving his own team he might avoid big punishment.
The problem is where is this all going to end..You are likely to start throwing games if you are betting on your own team, or start a betting ring with other players to throw games as well. Too risky to allow to even exist, the game will lose all credibility.
It’s an addiction, a psychological disease and we have no right to judge since (most of us hopefully) don’t have this kind of problems. I just hope he can get back on track with proper help.
Genius move by Milan for selling him. Now if he was suspended, the damage only minimal to us (loss bonus only)
Imagine if he still here, he suspended for a long time and we still have shit bench
We doomed
Rafa walked out on Sporting for the inadequate security to players and was still (harshly) found liable enough to bear 50% of a 40 Million (+ legal costs) decree.
I shudder to think what happens if a 3+ year ban is handed down and NU have no choice but to cancel Sandro’s contract and sue him for the 70 Million transfer fee.
Obviously any suit against Milan or the Betting Company would fail so Sandro would seem the only Defendant worth suing. Poor lad. Mistakes happen but nobody should have to bear such a colossal weight esp considering his value would be negated by a ban unlike Rafa whose value was so high at the time of the Decree anyone of the top 10 clubs in Europe would happily have paid the fine and got him on the cheap or free if he held out till July 2024. Case and point is the recent news that we (indirectly) ended up coughing up the fine via LOSC Lille. No such option for Tonali unfortunately. I’d be praying for any consequence except a lengthy ban in his shoes. Otherwise Rafa’s troubles will comparatively seem trivial to his. Potentially a very sad ending to a future gem for Italian football…