The checks on the cell phones of Zaniolo and Tonali continue. Is the Bianconeri cooperating, will the disqualification be reduced as early as next week? Corona cites Zalewski, who however is not under investigation according to the Turin Prosecutor’s Office
Football is shaking. There remain three people under investigation by the Turin Prosecutor’s Office – Fagioli, Tonali and Zaniolo – but the fear of anyone involved in the world of football is that this latest betting scandal could spread and involve more high-level players, at least a dozen. Names bounce around fans’ chats, fake news spreads, the hunt for bettors seems to have become the new national passion. But you need to be careful. Yesterday Fabrizio Corona on his Dillinger News mentioned the name of Roma player Nicola Zalewski, who to date is not in the Turin register of suspects (the Prosecutor’s Office has no information in this regard) nor in the sights of the Federal Prosecutor’s Office. At the moment the player is evaluating whether to take legal action against whoever spread the news: Roma – who currently consider him an injured party – have made a lawyer available to him, who would obviously stop following him in the event that Zalewski was officially accused by the Turin prosecutor’s office (and therefore from the federal one). The 21-year-old Giallorossi would be part of a betting-themed chat with other players, but there is still no evidence of direct involvement regarding his position.
New checks
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The investigators are dealing with it, also because the chats to be analyzed in the investigation are different and the examination of the devices seized from the suspects – starting with the smartphones and tablets of Tonali and Zaniolo – has not yet been completed. The three, it is worth remembering, are accused of illegally carrying out gaming or betting activities, provided for in art. 4 of law 401 of 1989. In practice they would have played on illegal sites, therefore not authorized by the Customs and Monopolies Agency. This is also why Turin is trying to reconstruct the movements of money used for betting, which evidently cannot be bank transfers. Devices and movements of money therefore, new research that suggests that the number of players is destined to rise, as well as the fact that the players involved could offer real collaboration to those investigating (which means revealing circumstances and names that are not yet known ) with the aim of obtaining a significant sentence discount.
The plea bargain
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At the moment, the person who has shown himself to be the most cooperative is Nicolò Fagioli, who self-reported, admitting that he had bet on football and provided both prosecutors with useful elements for the investigations. For him, the time to reach the disqualification could be particularly tight: precisely in light of his admissions and the sharing of useful information, for the Juventus player – who has already been heard by the federal prosecutor Chinè and who seems to have moved large sums of money in just a few months close to one million euros – a plea agreement is hypothesized as early as next week. In this case, according to article 126 of the Sports Justice Code, the sanction would be halved (for violation of article 24 a disqualification of at least three years is foreseen) and other mitigating circumstances could be added for a further discount. As for Juve, accused by Corona himself of knowing about Fagioli’s bets from August 1st – a circumstance which would entail the violation of the art. 24 paragraph 3, that of the failure to report – yesterday it tried to clarify with a statement: “With regard to what was reported by some media outlets, Juventus FC specifies that as soon as it received news of a possible involvement of its member Nicolò Fagioli on the regarding betting, he immediately and promptly contacted the FIGC Federal Prosecutor’s Office.” At the moment the defense strategy of the other two suspects appears different. Everyone around Sandro Tonali is very tight-lipped: the Newcastle player did not return to England yesterday and is evaluating how to move. He should be heard in the next few days, no later than the beginning of next week, first by the Turin prosecutor’s office and followed by the federal prosecutor’s office. The same process awaits Zaniolo – who returned to Birmingham yesterday – who however made it known that he had never bet on football, but had limited himself to playing blackjack on a platform that he did not know was illegal. If this were him, from a sporting point of view he would not have committed any violation. But if investigators were to prove his involvement in football betting, non-admission could prove strategically counterproductive. He will have the opportunity to clarify everything shortly.
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