FOOTBALL Revealed: The millions Italian footballer Fagioli gambled in a few months before roping in teammates Zaniolo & Tonali

Italian player Nicolo Fagioli gambled hundred of millions in just a few months before he involved his footballer friends Nicolo Zaniolo and Sandro Tonali, prove into the scandal has revealed

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.

This came after Juventus midfielder Fagioli had already been named in the same probe.

At around 6pm, officers from the Turin flying squad drove through the gates at Italy’s training base in Coverciano, a leafy Florence suburb. After training, they wished to question Tonali and Zaniolo in connection with a probe into illegal online betting platforms.

Cameras from RAI, Italy’s public broadcaster, showed both players as they were escorted to see the police by Gianluigi Buffon in his new role as the national team’s head of delegation, along with Emiliano Cozzi and Mauro Vladovich, general secretaries of the team and the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) respectively.

Officers confiscated their electronic devices and notified them they are under investigation by public prosecutors in Turin.

In a statement, the FIGC granted Tonali and Zaniolo leave from this international get-together on the basis that neither was in the right frame of mind to play in the European Championship qualification matches against Malta on Saturday and England three days later.

“It was a tough night,” Italy head coach Luciano Spalletti told Sky Italia. “When you have to bring home results (as Italy do against Malta and England as they fight to qualify for next summer’s finals in Germany), there’s always anxiety. But it was a different night with a lot of bitterness over what happened.

“The whole squad stands by Tonali and Zaniolo. We have to try to help them defend themselves but it is also right that justice takes its course and, if irregular things have been committed, then it’s right to pay for them.”

It is alleged they were users of illegal online betting platforms. Betting is not criminalised in Italy, as long as punters use bookmakers licensed by the country’s customs and monopolies agency.

If, on the other hand, a bet is placed with an unlicensed bookmaker, it is a criminal offence punishable by a three-month sentence or a fine on a sliding scale from €51,000-€516,000 (Ksh7.19 million-Ksh80.1 million).

Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported on Friday that Tonali allegedly used a site called worldgame365.me while Zaniolo was said to have used Evoz9.fx-gaming.net. Both sites are illegal. It is not yet known whether it is claimed that the platforms were used to place bets on football.

ANSA, the Italian news wire, and La Repubblica claim sources close to Zaniolo say he admitted to using the platform but said he did not know it was illegal to do so and had only played card games on it.