It has been reported that Alessandro Florenzi, a defender for AC Milan, is the latest Italian player to become the subject of an investigation by authorities about allegations of illicit gambling activities.
In an investigation into claims of illegal gambling that the Italian Prosecutor’s Office and the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) conducted last month, Sandro Tonali, Nicolo Fagioli, and Nicolo Zaniolo were named as suspects. The scandal rocked the sport of Italian football.
After hammering out plea bargains with the FIGC, Tonali and Fagioli have both since been banned for ten months and seven months respectively. Reportedly, Tonali admitted to betting on matches involving his old club AC Milan. Fagioli admitted to betting on matches involving his former club AC Milan.
In the meanwhile, it is believed that Zaniolo will not attempt to negotiate a plea deal and will instead focus on obtaining a complete acquittal. It has been reported that the former player for Roma is adamant about the fact that he only bet on online poker and blackjack games, both of which are not in violation of the Sports Justice Code.
And now, in brand new disclosures, it has been reported by an Italian news source called AGI that Florenzi is the most recent player to be implicated in the betting scandal.
After the news that was revealed earlier regarding Tonali, Fagioli, and Zaniolo, the investigation has continued in the background, and the authorities have now informed Florenzi – who counts Roma, PSG, and Valencia among his former clubs – that he is the subject of a formal investigation.
According to the sources, the charge that he faces is the same as Zaniolo’s, which means that an inquiry is being conducted into him for betting on online games rather than on football events.
However, it is still against the law for football players to gamble on anything at all. The punishment, however, is expected to be less harsh, with the article stating that if Florenzi were found guilty, he would most likely just be fined.
The right back has earned 49 caps for Italy since making his debut in 2012. He also appeared off the bench in Italy’s 3-1 loss to England in a Euro 2024 qualifying match last month; however, Luciano Spalletti did not include him in the team for Italy’s next international matches.
In the following days, he will present his account of the happenings in Turin at a meeting with the prosecutors who are investigating the case.
Even though the allegations are not related to betting on football events, the article indicates that Zaniolo and Florenzi could still be in serious trouble if they used unlawful sites to play online games. This is the case despite the fact that the allegations are not related to betting on football matches.