The illegal betting case embroiling Nicolò Fagioli, Sandro Tonali, and Nicolò Zaniolo is set to expand to further players. Differently from the previous ones that have rocked Italian football in recent decades, there’s no suspicion of match-fixing. Still, its ramifications from the sporting standpoint risk being hefty, La Repubblica informs.
The two Italy stars received the notice of investigation at the Coverciano training center on Thursday. They should be the three highest-profile names involved, but the detectives are looking into at least ten more, including a second fringe Juventus one.
Tonali and Zaniolo talked to the police for an hour but weren’t formally interrogated, unlike Fagioli in recent weeks. The investigators unearthed some illegal platforms while searching for evidence on a money-laundering racket. Footballers are prohibited from betting on their sport so allegedly turned to these channels.
The Bianconeri youngster is reportedly a gambling addict and lost thousands of euros in the past 18 months. The detective came across him because a betting shop kept secret balance sheets on top of their regular ones.
Fagioli confessed and started collaborating. His phone contained some chats with Tonali and Zaniolo. There’s no proof they were betting too yet, but their messages were explicit. Their phones were seized by the police on Thursday to prevent them from erasing anything. Per Corriere della Sera, the detectives want to ascertain whether somebody benefitted illicitly from the players’ activity on these platforms.
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