About a dozen Seriea A football
players are under investigation in a new probe into illegal
betting on sports other than soccer, sources said Friday.
The probe involved betting up to 2023, police said.
Two players who have already served bans for betting allegedly
acted as collectors for the bettors, Newcastle and ex Milan
Italy midfielder Sandro Tonali and Fiorentina and ex Juve Italy
midfielder Nicolò Fagioli, police said.
Among the other players involved are Juve and USA midfielder
Weston McKennie, Fiorentina and Italy winger Nicolò Zaniolo,
Atalanta and Italy right wing-back Raoul Bellanova, and former
Jiventus winger Angel Di Maria, now in the twilight of his
illustrious career at Benfica.
The footballers, according to what has been learned, are being
investigated for having played on illegal betting and poker
platforms and for having advertised them among other
footballers.
There are numerous other names of footballers that appear in the
investigation documents.
Among these are also those of AC Milan and former Roma and Italy
full back Alessandro Florenzi Alessandro, Juve reserve
goalkeeper Mattia Perin, Torino and Italy midfielder Samuele
Ricci, and Roma and Argentina midfielder Leandro Paredes.
Police said Fagioli and Sandro Tonali, "in addition to having
placed numerous bets" on illegal platforms, allegedly acted as
"gambler collectors" and were "remunerated with bonuses on their
gaming accounts" and with debt reduction.
This has emerged from the documents of the Milan investigation.
The two, in fact, are being investigated for a charge that also
concerns the "advertising" given to the illegal betting ring,
while all the others are being investigated as "mere gamblers".
The latter are twenty in total, including not only footballers
but also other athletes.
They allegedly paid their gambling debts with bank transfers to
a jewelry store, pretending to buy Rolexes and other luxury
watches.
According to the prosecution, the footballers were first given
credit by the betting organizers; when the debt became onerous,
they were directed to the jewelry store so that they would
apparently pay the price of the watches with perfectly traceable
bank transfers, which remained in the store at the disposal of
the organizers, while the athletes left only with the invoice
issued for the simulated purchase.
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