SANDRO TONALI took a pay cut to his £132,500-a-week wages after being slapped with a 10-month ban for betting breaches.
The Newcastle midfielder, 23, received the punishment from the Italian FA back in October and has not featured since then.
On Thursday, he was handed a further two-month suspended ban after admitting more betting breaches since arriving at St James’ Park last summer.
Tonali was also fined £20,000 and warned by the FA about his future conduct.
However, according to journalist Mark Douglas, Tonali’s decision to take a cut in wages following his ban helped to reduce the size of the financial penalty.
It is not known exactly how much of a wage cut he has taken.
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But some of the bets that landed him with the two-month suspended ban have been revealed.
Tonali placed between 40 and 50 bets after joining from AC Milan.
They included:
- An accumulator bet involving either Newcastle to beat Brighton on September 2, 2023 or Newcastle to beat Burnley on September 30, 2023
- An accumulator bet including Newcastle to beat Brentford, September 16, 2023
- A single bet on Newcastle to beat Manchester City, September 27, 2023
- An accumulator bet including Newcastle to beat West Ham, October 8, 2023
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Tonali’s new ban is a suspended punishment throughout the 2024/25 campaign, meaning he is still set to return to action on October 27.
The two-month ban will only be served if he commits further betting breaches.
Tonali started five of Newcastle’s opening nine Premier League games, before he was charged with the betting breaches and suspended.
His last match came in the Champions League against Borussia Dortmund on October 25.
Speaking about the situation earlier in the season, Newcastle boss Eddie Howe said: “The most important part of this whole incident is Sandro and his welfare.
“It’s very easy for people to forget how young he is and the changes he’s had in his life, coming from Italy to England. That’s hard enough to deal with and now he has this situation.
“Straight away, it was throw our arms round him and protect him, and try to give him the love and support he needs to try to find solutions to the problems that he’s had.
“That’s what we’re endeavouring to do with a lot of conversations, a lot of communication with him and his family. It’s the people around him that are going to be so important to him as well.
“It’s a big effort from us and he’s handled himself superbly. He’s obviously emotional but handled himself with respect and dignity.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
