Izuchukwu OkosiNewcastle and Italy midfielder Sandro Tonali has been banned for 10 months by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) for breaching betting rules whilst he was at former club, AC Milan.
The 23-year-old will not be eligible to play again until August and will be unavailable to feature at Euro 2024 next summer should Italy qualify.
However, the metronomic midfield star is allowed to train with the Toons and is free to play non-competitive games for his club albeit or is unknown if he can also play non-competitive games for Italy.
Tonali joined Newcastle from AC Milan in July for £55m.
Earlier this month, Juventus midfielder Nicolo Fagioli received a seven-month ban from the FIGC for betting breaches.
The FIGC confirmed that Tonali had breached the rule which prohibits players placing bets on football events organised by FIGC, Uefa and Fifa, and he has also been fined 20,000 euros (£17,380).
It added that the federal prosecutor and Tonali had agreed to an 18-month disqualification, eight months of which will be commuted to “a therapeutic plan” to help “recovery from gambling addiction.”
That will include at least 16 public appearances in Italy, at amateur sports associations and “federal territorial centres”, where he will be expected to speak to young players about the dangers of betting.
FIGC president Gabriele Gravina told Sky Sports Italia: “The plea bargain and extenuating circumstances have been taken into consideration and the players’ collaboration went above and beyond, therefore we must continue to respect the rules we have established for ourselves.”
Juventus’ Fagioli had five months of a one-year ban suspended and was fined 12,500 euros (£10,850). Fagioli also agreed to a therapy plan of at least six months to tackle his gambling problem.
Tonali and fellow midfielder Nicolo Zaniolo, who is on loan at Aston Villa from Galatasaray, left Italy’s training camp on 12 October after being told they were involved in an investigation by Italian prosecutors.
During a three-year spell at San Siro, Tonali helped Milan win their first Serie A title for 11 years in 2021-22 and reach last season’s Champions League semi-finals.
He came off the bench during Newcastle’s 1-0 defeat by Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Tonali has made 12 appearances for Eddie Howe’s side since becoming the Magpies’ second most expensive signing.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.
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