Nicolo Zaniolo of Aston Villa will receive a fine of €20,000 and no further punishment for his part in the Italian football betting scandal.
Journalist Giovanni Albanese claims that the Aston Villa player will only receive a fine for his involvement in the scandal. Zaniolo is one of three Italian football players who have been involved in the affair over the past few weeks, along with Sandro Tonali of Newcastle and Nicolo Fagioli of Juventus.
The midfielder for Aston Villa has always maintained that, in contrast to the other two, he has only ever wagered on poker and blackjack and has never placed a wager on football in any way.
He has stood by that position from the beginning, and he did so again yesterday when he and his attorneys met with Italian prosecutors to present their case. This morning’s reports on the meeting made it abundantly evident that there isn’t any evidence at this time to suggest Zaniolo is lying, and the main purpose of the meeting was to talk about the platforms’ illegality and possible connections to organized crime.
According to those same reports, the player was only going to receive a fine; no sports bans or other penalties were planned. Albanese supports that, stating that the player will only be penalized €20,000 for using illicit betting platforms. Zaniolo acknowledged having wagered on games like blackjack and poker on platforms that were known to be unlawful,” the statement read.
However, in contrast to Tonali and Fagioli, who acknowledged having played football, the Newcastle midfielder was a former Milan player—albeit a victor.
“But because the football was not touched, the former Roma player who was questioned by PM Emanuela Pedrotta could face a fine of €20,000.
