Newcastle midfielder given suspended FA ban for betting breaches

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Newcastle midfielder Sandro Tonali has received a suspended two-month ban after acknowledging violations of the Football Association’s betting regulations.

The 23-year-old Italian will avoid the ban provided he commits no further breaches until the end of the next season.

He is currently serving a 10-month suspension until August for prior offenses committed in Italy.

In March, Tonali was charged by the FA and confessed to placing between 40 and 50 football bets after transferring to Newcastle from AC Milan last July, including four bets involving Newcastle’s matches.

The FA disclosed that Tonali wagered amounts totaling well over 100,000 euros (£85,600).

According to the FA, the four bets Tonali placed on Newcastle all predicted wins for his team, and he participated in three of those four games. He has also been fined £20,000.

Newcastle said Tonali is “continuing to follow a therapeutic plan and educational programme with the club’s full support and will continue to train with his team-mates”.

An independent regulatory commission heard the process has had a “profound effect” on the midfielder and “is something he does not want to experience again”.

The independent commission, in summarising the evidence, said the FA contended it was “highly unlikely” that it “would have ever become aware of Tonali’s misconduct but for his admissions”.

The written reasons issued on Thursday stated the four Newcastle matches Tonali admitted betting on were:

  • an accumulator involving either Newcastle to beat Brighton on 2 September 2023 or to beat Burnley on 30 September;

  • an accumulator including Newcastle to beat Brentford on 16 September;

  • a single bet on Newcastle to beat Manchester City on 27 September;

  • an accumulator including Newcastle to beat West Ham on 8 October.

It was also confirmed Tonali took part in an FA training programme about betting in August, nine days before his offences began, but he had not fully understood the content because of “his English being extremely limited”.