Ahead of Italy’s match against Malta, Azzuri coach Luciano Spalletti opened up on the recent controversy that has rocked Italian football off-late. The former Napoli coach said the decision to send Sandro Tonali and Nicolo Zaniolo back from the Italy camp was ‘correct’. Law enforcement authorities questioned the Italian duo Coverciano last night. The questioning was regarding an ongoing probe involving illegal online betting.
Reports involving Nicolo Fagioli kickstarted the investigation. The Juventus midfielder reportedly placed over €100,000 in bets across 18 months.
Tonali and Zaniolo acknowledged to investigators that they had engaged in illegal gambling on third-party platforms. However, the duo were steadfast in their assertion that they had been engaged in poker games and blackjack activities, rather than betting on football matches. Furthermore, they asserted that they had not discussed this with Fagioli.
“It was another difficult night, in another sense. When you have to bring home important results there is a bit of waiting, a bit of anxiety in going to play,” Spalletti told Sky Sports Italia via Calciomercato.com
“This was a different night because there was a lot of bitterness, the whole team was close to them. They were sorry, we will continue to be close to them even after the spotlight goes down, now they have all the lights on them.
“Then it’s right to help them defend themselves for what the facts and events are, then it’s also correct that justice follows its path, if irregular things have happened it’s right to pay.
“We must make an effort to raise awareness, to talk to young people about these pitfalls, to find a way to make them pay particular attention to what is happening in the world.”
The Italy manager also talked about the decision to send the duo back from Italy camp.
“It’s not nice to go looking for who made the decision… If it’s correct, whoever made it made it… It’s a correct decision based on what happened, we can’t bring two shocked kids for what happened in a match like this.
“What was decided was correct, the words said were correct. Then we go to play and remain a very strong team even without two champions.”
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