His position seems clear: “I didn’t bet on football.” His name was in the chats of one of the players involved
Betting yes, but never on football. Money bet on some games, including roulette, but not on his sport. This is the truth of Alessandro Florenzi, told yesterday afternoon to Manuela Pedrotta, the Turin public prosecutor who coordinates the investigation into a vast round of betting on illegal platforms in which several footballers were involved. Florenzi is the fourth to be included in the register of suspects after Nicolò Fagioli (Juventus), Sandro Tonali (Newcastle) and Nicolò Zaniolo (Aston Villa) and like the other three he showed up on the seventh floor of the courthouse, where the offices of the deputy prosecutor Enrica Gabetta, to be questioned.
comparison
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It was a fairly short but fruitful discussion, which served to clarify his position and also remove the risk of disqualification on the federal front. The Milan full-back arrived around 3.30pm accompanied by his lawyers, Antonio Conte and Gianluca Tognozzi (the same as Zaniolo), passing as usual through a secondary entrance to avoid journalists (it is now common practice when footballers arrive) and left just over an hour later. His situation seems more similar to that of Zaniolo (who always claimed to have only played blackjack and poker) than Fagioli and Tonali (who admitted betting on football) and also for this reason decidedly lighter. If from a criminal point of view he risks a fine, from a sporting point of view nothing if it is confirmed that the Rossoneri has never bet on football.
the chats
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“Florenzi clarified his position, reiterating his absolute non-involvement in any type of betting on football, nor did any evidence or dispute emerge in this sense. He acknowledged having played on illegal platforms and provided all the clarifications requested by the pm to define his position as soon as possible”, explained his lawyers. From what he filters from the prosecutor’s office, no evidence of football betting has been found. During the interrogation, the men of the flying squad directed by Luigi Mitola asked Florenzi to account for the chats found on one of the electronic devices seized from the other three players: thus his name would emerge. They showed him the conversations and the AC Milan fan admitted to having focused on illegal sites, reiterating however that he limited himself to that. The investigators are interested in understanding who is behind the multi-million dollar clandestine betting ring: the suspicion is that the management is in the hands of organized crime and the players can help rebuild the entire network. Florenzi seemed sincere yesterday. The crime he is accused of is the same as the other three, illegal exercise of gaming or betting activities, provided for by article 4 of law 401 of 1989. Like the others, he will get away with a not too high fine.
no football
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Even before being heard, Florenzi had reiterated to Milan, to agent Alessandro Lucci and to the lawyers assisting him that he had never bet on the ball. The player’s position, which was then put in black and white with the press release, is clear and on the part of his entourage there are no doubts about the truthfulness of his statements, also because at the moment there are no clues in the hands of the Turin Prosecutor’s Office which can prove the opposite. His name does not appear in the wiretaps, he was brought up by one of the other players. Having given his version in Turin, a second interview should not be necessary. The documents from the Piedmont Prosecutor’s Office will then be sent to the federal one (in constant contact with Turin), which could decide to listen to him in Rome too: the FIGC Prosecutor’s Office has the right to summon one of its members but it is not certain that it will do so, given that there are no findings related to football. In any case, the times will not be very fast. Florenzi remained calm and trained with the team yesterday morning and will continue to do so in the next few days at Milanello, in view of the resumption of competitions: between Fiorentina and Dortmund he will immediately have his space. In the meantime, investigations continue in Turin: the involvement of other players, even from lower leagues, cannot be ruled out. New football-related names could appear soon.
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