Astonishing claims emerging from Italy claim that eleven professional footballers – including two World Cup winners in 2022 and a Leeds United ace – have been involved in an illegal gambling circuit.
Angel Di Maria and Leandro Paredes, who were part of the Argentina squad that lifted the World Cup trophy in Qatar, have been named in the writ, as has Leeds’ Junior Firpo.
AC Milan star Alessandro Florenzi, Juventus midfielder Weston McKennie and Fiorentina’s Nicolo Zaniolo are also amongst those who have been investigated, alongside ATP tennis professional Matteo Gigante.
Loose Change
It should be made clear that none of the eleven footballers named have been accused of betting on football.
Instead, the accusations claim that they had accessed illegal gambling sites in order to bet on other sports, casino games and online poker.
As such, they are unlikely to face punishment in a footballing sense – unlike Sandro Tonali and Nicolo Fagioli, who were banned for ten and seven months respectively after being charged with betting on football games.
However, criminal charges could be brought against the eleven, although the sanction – a fine of €250 (£217) – would be barely an hour’s wages for some of the players involved.
So while there’s no real impact upon the players involved or their clubs, the investigation – broken by Milan-based newspaper Corriere della Sera – causes further damage to the reputation and integrity of Italian football.
It was the original probe into Tonali and Fagioli that opened the door into a world of illegal gambling amongst Italian footballers and those plying their trade at Italian clubs.
Newcastle United paid £60 million for midfielder Tonali back in 2023, but by October of that year he was being investigated by the Italian Prosecutor’s Office for allegedly betting on football games – strictly forbidden under the rules of the Italian Football Federation and the English Football Association.
He was found to have breached the rules on 50 occasions while playing for AC Milan and Newcastle United, with the now 24-year-old banned for ten months. Tonali returned to first team action with the Magpies in August 2024.
Fagioli, meanwhile, was given an initial 12-month ban from playing, although five months of that term was suspended. It was alleged that the 24-year-old, currently on loan at Fiorentina from Juventus, used a number of different identities to avoid suspicion for longer.
Nicolo Zaniolo, who had a spell on loan at Aston Villa during the 2023/24 season, was also investigated alongside Tonali and Fagioli. But he had only accessed gambling sites to play poker and blackjack, the probe found, and so he did not face any disciplinary action.
It’s also been claimed that both Tonali and Fagioli were ‘rewarded financially’ for recruiting their fellow players to the illegal gambling sites, although that accusation has not been confirmed by the authorities.
Paqueta Spot Fixing Probe Halted
Lucas Paqueta (Credit: Celso Pupo / bigstock)
As an investigation into illegal gambling in Italy plays out, back closer to home another is on hiatus until June.
West Ham midfielder Lucas Paqueta has been accused on getting deliberately booked on four separate occasions – in a bid, according to prosecutors, to help his co-accused to benefit financially by betting on such an eventuality.
The 27-year-old’s hearing began back in March, and he has been told in no uncertain terms that he could be banned from football for life should the probe confirm that he was in on the fix.
The case was scheduled to be concluded by early April, however the scale of the evidence submitted is such that the judging panel have been given more time to reach their verdicts.
To make matters worse for Paqueta, who is allowed to continue playing for the Hammers until the investigation is complete, he will now have an anxious wait until June at the earliest before he finds out if his playing days are over.
He was charged back in May 2024 for alleged impropriety that unfolded in four Premier League games, which took place in 2022 and 2023.
It’s claimed that the Brazilian deliberately got himself booked, via a series of clumsy challenges, in contests against Leicester City, Aston Villa, Leeds United and Bournemouth.
It’s claimed that a number of people in Brazil had placed bets on Paqueta to be booked in the games in question; including some that had opened accounts with West Ham’s sponsor, Betway, just days before.
A statement from the FA read: “It’s alleged that he [Paqueta] directly sought to influence the progress, conduct, or any other aspect of, or occurrence in these matches by intentionally seeking to receive a card from the referee, for the improper purpose of affecting the betting market in order for one or more persons to profit from betting.”