Corona’s revelations via social media, then the notification from the Prosecutor’s Office and the decision to send them home
There are no intrusive fans at the end of training, and only the God of football knows how much the Azzurri would have hoped for them. In Coverciano there are two police officers with a warrant for Nicolò Zaniolo and Sandro Tonali who are allegedly involved in a betting case like the one involving Nicolò Fagioli. In fact, everything starts from the investigation by the Turin prosecutor’s office. Italian football is once again shaken by betting. The national team of Zaniolo and Tonali ends here for now, today they return home. Now their match begins, to explain the situation, and that of Spalletti, who must get Italy back on its feet after this blow, thinking about Malta, England and qualification for the European Championship.
From Turin
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It is more or less nineteen when the agents enter Coverciano and ask to speak to the two players who have just finished training. The nightmare begins, announced by the words of Fabrizio Corona who anticipated the case on Wednesday. Corona has a reputation for not being punctual. This time, however, he even arrived early. The former photographic agent had said, on his social networks, after the news of the Fagioli case, that at 6pm on Thursday he would reveal the names of two other footballers with the habit of betting, in addition to the Juventus midfielder.
In the air
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That something was going to happen was therefore in the air. The names of Zaniolo and Tonali, precisely them, had circulated after Corona’s advances, but everything had remained under wraps. What if they were just rumors? Serene atmosphere in Coverciano, with Acerbi explaining in the conference how the team was “calm”. A sign could have been the cancellation of Tonali’s interview with Rai. The alarm sounds when a screenshot with the two players appears on the Corona website. Corona kept his promise, appearing almost two hours earlier than expected on the Instagram page of his information site “Dillinger News”: “Zaniolo and Tonali bet!”. Not only. In an audio reported by Corona himself, an anonymous source is heard adding: “Zaniolo played for Roma in the Italian Cup when he was injured”. Soon that image disappears from “Dillinger News”, but it is late, it is now circulating, and perhaps it was a well-thought-out move, not a mistake. Also because it then reappears.
The police arrive
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The players don’t know it yet. The appointment is at 4pm for training. Spalletti calls the team to charge, shouts of encouragement can be heard. At four thirty on the pitch. Zaniolo is smiling, you can see that he is cheerful while he faces the “bull”. Someone says they saw Tonali more upset. The training is long and intense, meanwhile the police cars are arriving at the technical centre. The officers knock on the Coverciano gate. The secretary of the national team, Cozzi, joins the players in the locker room and accompanies them to the organizational manager Vladovich and the head of the delegation Buffon. Destination, a room in Coverciano where no one can enter except the two interested parties. The walk in the “corridor” that leads to the fields does not escape the Rai cameras. The companions look worried.
Homecoming
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Tonali and Zaniolo are registered in the register of suspects for illegal online betting, apparently also on their team. The police ask for cell phones, which were then seized, tablets and computers. An hour in that room. When they come out, the two have dark faces. They are expected for dinner, but they don’t have that much desire to eat. Sure enough the two cross paths with Spalletti and exchange a few words with him. The decision is made. There is the statement: “Regardless of the nature of the acts, believing that in this situation the two players are not in the necessary condition to face the commitments”, the FIGC decides to return them to their respective clubs this morning.
Abodi: “That’s right”
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The inevitable decision was taken by president Gravina and coach Spalletti who finds himself with two men less and is reflecting on new call-ups, with Malta and England on the horizon. Ricci del Toro could arrive. Sports Minister Andrea Abodi agrees: “There is an even more important match than qualifying for the European Championship, and that is correct behaviour, taking into account a problem which is not a football problem, it is a social pathology. : because this is gambling addiction. The choice to send the two boys home was appropriate, also for their protection.” The minister confirms the version circulating in Coverciano: “Something had already emerged about Fagioli, we learned about the others during the day”. Italy knew nothing about it.
The anticipation
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Before the Coverciano raid, the police had gone to Corona’s house who, spontaneously, had decided to present himself, accompanied by his girlfriend, at the Milan police station as “a person informed of the facts”. An interview that lasted just over an hour, with the investigators arriving specifically from Turin to hear him. Corona then left the building without revealing the content of the chat with the police, but announcing other news by return post. “Over the next few weeks all the evidence will be documented with audio and names. We will see some good ones”, we read on the “Dillinger News” Instagram page. A few hours later, the notification of the investigation documents to Zaniolo and Tonali in Coverciano. It is not clear whether the measure arrived due to Corona’s revelations or whether it simply accelerated the process, as the news became public knowledge.
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