Sidelined for Gambling Problem, Soccer Star Spends Probation Helping Fans Kick Theirs
An Italian soccer star suspended for ten months after violating sports betting regulations spent that time helping natives to his new English city kick their gambling addictions.
The supporters of Newcastle United were buzzing with excitement when in the summer of 2023, the club signed Italian midfielder Sandro Tonali. The highly-rated midfield general was seen as another vital brick in a team structure that was fast becoming one of the most formidable in the English Premier League.
But just a few months after arriving in Newcastle, Tonali was found guilty by authorities in Italy and England of violating European rules against players engaging in sports betting. Having cost the club over $70 million, its star player was suddenly sidelined.
In a recent tell-all style interview with Italy’s La Republica Tonali opened up about his gambling addiction, and how it was assisting others with similar problems that helped lead him to kick his own.
Tonali, described as “a young man who smiles, who never lowers his gaze, who jokes freely, and who has been relieved of an enormous weight,” said he doesn’t remember when he made his first bet, but that it had become a habit even at the tender age of 17.