Newcastle United's Sandro Tonali has begun his 10-month ban from football for illegal betting after FIFA extended the suspension imposed on the midfielder by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) worldwide.
On Thursday, the president of the FIGC revealed the length of Tonali's ban after the 23-year-old and his lawyers negotiated a plea bargain with Italian prosecutors.
Despite that, Newcastle manager Eddie Howe revealed at a press conference on Friday that Tonali had a "high chance" of playing in Saturday's Premier League clash at Wolverhampton Wanderers as the club were yet to receive official confirmation of the midfielder's ban from the Italian authorities.
Tonali had made two substitute appearances against Crystal Palace and Borussia Dortmund over the last seven days while awaiting the verdict of his case, and he was preparing to travel with the rest of the Magpies' squad to Molineux.
However, football's world governing body FIFA have since confirmed on Friday evening that Tonali's 10-month ban from football will begin immediately, after ratifying the request from the Italian authorities, meaning that he is unavailable to play against Wolves on Saturday.
Tonali is ruled out for the rest of the 2023-24 season and is also unable to represent Italy should they qualify for Euro 2024 – which will take place in Germany between June 14 and July 14 – as his ban will expire at the end of August of next year.
A statement from FIFA read: "The request submitted by the Italian Football Association to extend the sanction it imposed on the player Sandro Tonali on [Friday] to have worldwide effect has been granted."
Tonali's ban will consist of a 10-month suspension from worldwide football, but the midfielder is expected to be allowed to train with Newcastle and represent the club in friendly matches.
The 15-cap Italy international is also required to attend treatment sessions for his gambling problems and make himself available for a series of talks about his experience over a further eight-month period as part of an agreement with the FIGC.
Furthermore Tonali has also been fined €20,000 (£17,438) for breaching FIGC rules that forbids betting of any kind on football events organised by the FIGC, UEFA and FIFA.
During a court hearing in Turin a week last Tuesday, Tonali admitted to betting on football games, both in which he played and did not play, for his former club AC Milan to win during his time at the Serie A outfit.
Tonali left Milan to join Newcastle for a reported £55m in the summer and he has since made 12 appearances across all competitions this season, scoring on his Premier League debut in August.
Confirmation of Tonali's ban comes just over a week after Juventus midfielder Nicolo Fagioli was handed a seven-month suspension from football and fined €12,500 for illegal betting activity.
Aston Villa's Nicolo Zaniolo – on loan from Galatasaray – is the latest Italian player being investigated for alleged illegal betting activity by Italian prosecutors, and the midfielder was questioned at the Federal Prosecutor's Office in Turin on Friday. body check tags ::
