Anyone expecting a parade of well-known football faces in front of the Turin prosecutor’s office will soon have to wait. At least until the magistrates have acquired and examined the chats in which there could be useful elements for the betting investigation. Those bets on unlicensed sites which could become a small setback from a legal point of view, but a gigantic obstacle for the careers of the players involved (for now there are three under investigation) if carried out on sporting events, suddenly throwing them off the pitch and for quite a long time.
Betting, the prosecutors: there are 30 names, with the players also managers. Checks on prosecutors and presidents
Betting, the acquisition of cell phones
The forensic copies of their cell phones will presumably be acquired this week, with the appropriate summons from the lawyers, and only then will it be necessary to proceed with those to interview them in person. The investigation by the federal prosecutor’s office, led by Giuseppe Chinè, starts from that of the ordinary judiciary of Turin. The police flying squad is dealing with a file that is part of an investigation by the District Anti-Mafia Directorate into illicit bets with the aim of money laundering or illicit earnings of large sums. A part that does not concern the players under investigation. The names for now are those of Nicolò FagioliJuventus player, Nicolò Zanioloformer Roma striker and now at Aston Villa, e Sandro Tonali, former AC Milan player and now at Newcastle, and I am a sort of collateral discovery. They could only be held accountable for “illegal exercise of gaming and betting activities”, a crime provided for by law 401 of 1989, punished with a fine and imprisonment of up to three months, but with the possibility of leaving the trial by paying a sum as an oblation. In essence they bet on the wrong sites, illicit sites.
Fabrizio Corona and betting: «Stop news until Tuesday, I will bring the evidence to “Avanti Popolo” on Rai»
Betting, Zalewski is not under investigation
Nicola Zalewski, Roma’s Polish full-back, called into question by, is not among the suspects Fabrizio Corona in his social media revelations on the matter. Nor is it a given that the entire dozen names that the photographer has announced he will gradually end up under investigation by the judiciary: The next revelations on Tuesday after the national team match. The risk for sporting careers, however, is tangible. It would be a slap in the face if the investigation conducted by the federal prosecutor were to lead to the verification of the violation of the art. 24 of the Sports Justice Code, which deals with the «ban on betting and obligation to report», in paragraph 3 speaks of a disqualification of no less than three years (it can go as far as disbarment), which with plea bargaining or collaboration with investigations can reduce the penalty from one third up to over 50%. The Code goes further, it obliges professionals to immediately inform the FIGC Prosecutor’s Office if they become aware of bets by others, individuals or companies.
Fabrizio Corona, Spalletti (without quoting him): «Be careful players, there are jackals who spy on you just for notoriety»
Betting, Bonucci’s name
Meanwhile, other details emerge in the press. The newspaper la Repubblica claims that Leo Bonucci knew about the Fagioli issue but is not involved in betting. Furthermore, Juventus has already announced that it informed the FIGC as soon as it learned of Fagioli’s possible involvement. «We feel sorry for him, we immediately took action with the federal prosecutor’s office. It will not only be necessary to punish the boy, but it will be necessary to re-educate the system”, says its sports director, Cristiano Giuntoli, who speaks from the Trento Sports Festival. Help is needed, according to Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Tonali’s former teammate: «I know little about this story, I’ve never heard anything from him, I’ve never heard him feel bad. If he is sick of gambling, we need to help him, because he is like a drug. We need to understand if he played at the casino, I did too. Then, of course, if one bets on football it’s a different story.”
Betting, from Fagioli to Zaniolo: players risk 3 years of disqualification (without collaboration or plea bargaining)
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