Tonali returns to football after 10-month ban for gambling: ‘Don’t hide behind your problems’ | Football | Sports

The 24-year-old is already earning millions of euros, but in front of a group of teenage students he bared his feelings and snapped at them. “The most important thing is not a contract worth thousands of euros.” Sandro Tonali’s penance included several meetings with young people, where he spoke of an addiction that appeared to have been overcome after several months of work, including a suspension from his professional training. Tonali, who played for Milan and the Italian national team just over a year ago, was signed by Newcastle for 60 million euros. Soon after, it emerged that he had become addicted to sports betting, an addiction incompatible with his work. The Italian Football Federation handed him a ten-month ban from football, during which he agreed to treat his gambling problem and attend a series of talks in which he would have to talk about his experiences. That’s why he spoke to secondary school students in Bari last May. Shortly before, he had gone to work in a factory. “There I met people who work ten hours a day to bring home a salary. And if they make a mistake like mine, their whole family will have to pay the consequences. I consider myself lucky. “I made a mistake and I didn’t pay anything.” Indeed, Newcastle respected their obligations to the player, who nevertheless demanded a significant reduction in his salary (around 90%, due to a fee of around eight million euros a year) during the time he was out of work. Once the sanction is fulfilled, he is due to play this Wednesday in the League Cup against Nottingham Forest.

“He’s ready to play. He’s a strong man and he’s done it, with ups and downs, but with strength, dignity and integrity. He hasn’t played competitively for a long time, but he’s in good shape,” manager Eddie Howe said of the Italian midfielder ahead of the game with Forest. Tonali, a shy and reserved man, has clearly integrated into the team and the city, learning English and, above all, working with professionals to break his gambling habit. “Million-dollar contracts don’t matter, the important thing is to be surrounded by people who love you,” he explained to those boys in Bari. “Don’t hide behind problems, but rather seek help to solve them,” the player concluded on that visit.

Howe stresses that the job is not over with Tonali, even if he returns to his profession. “He will have to deal with this for the rest of his life,” he warns. This is the message conveyed by the footballer, a man with a closed character, who admits that it was a mistake to withdraw into himself in the face of an addiction that began in 2021. At least he has a reference point to follow. Nicolo Fagioli, the Juventus midfielder, was under investigation at the same time and served a seven-month ban, played two games before the end of the last Serie A and was approached by Luciano Spalletti to join the Italian team in the European Cup. “First of all, it is a technical choice, given his footballing qualities. In other respects, he deserves our support and understanding,” the technician decided.

Tonali followed a personalised training plan, which included training on days when his team-mates had games. This summer, news broke that he had played in a behind-closed-doors, behind-the-referee friendly against Burnley. Soon after, he travelled with the team on a summer tour of Japan, although he was unable to play. The English Football Association, which had documented up to 50 bets by the player, including four on Newcastle matches in which his team won, had the right to extend the ban. But he refused the option. So Tonali now faces a new life as a footballer, and as an example of how gambling problems can be left behind.

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