Nicolò Fagioli gambled over €1M in a few months and, due to his exposure with bookies, involved his footballer friends, Tonali and Zaniolo, connecting them with betting agents for secure wagers.

Nicolò Fagioli gambled over €1M in a few months and, due to his exposure with bookies, involved his footballer friends, Tonali and Zaniolo, connecting them with betting agents for secure wagers.  

Now, news agency ANSA has brought forward fresh accusations. It claims Zaniolo is facing more serious charges than the others, specifically of violating Article 4 of law 401/98.

That is a charge of effectively not just using illegal betting sites, but having an active role in organising and spreading the practice.

Some reports also claim Zaniolo’s mother, Francesca Costa, could also be involved in the investigation.There are also rumours of Roma wing-back Nicola Zalewski being in the list. Although he is not yet formally under investigation.

According to reports including from La Repubblica, Zaniolo and Tonali told their friends and the police that they were only betting on blackjacks and poker, not football.

Italian footballer Nicolo Fagioli gambled over €1 million (Ksh155 million) in a few months and, due to his exposure with bookies, involved his footballer friends, Nicolo Zaniolo and Sandro Tonali, connecting them with betting agents for secure wagers, it has been reported.

They used illegal websites operating in parallel with the market.

Italian football was rocked by another off-field controversy on Thursday, when two Premier League-based current Italy internationals – Aston Villa’s Zaniolo and Tonali of Newcastle United – were questioned by police in relation to an investigation around illegal betting.