Newcastle manager Eddie Howe believes it would be too harsh to ban Sandro Tonali even longer for breaking the gambling rules.
Friday 29 March at 11:42 a.mIt emerged on Thursday that Tonali is accused of placing a further 50 bets on football matches after joining English football. In October, the Italian was banned for ten months for gambling from his time in Serie A. He asks that the Italian not be punished further.
– He has been in pain throughout this period. He has sought help, and he has been honest. He has admitted he has a problem, Howe said at Friday’s press conference ahead of the Premier League meeting with West Ham.
– The best thing for Sandro will be for him to continue his career after taking his punishment and learning many lessons from this, he added, according to the Chronicle Live newspaper.
Howe emphasizes that it is about gambling addiction in Tonali’s case, and he believes that the Italian should get help rather than more punishment.
– The news that there is an FA charge in addition… the illness did not go away when he moved to England. That disease was there, and people should look at it that way. Let’s not punish him even more because I don’t think that gets to the root of the problem. This (gambling addiction) is a growing problem in society, not just a problem for Sandro, says the Newcastle manager.
Tonali only managed to play twelve games for Newcastle after his transfer from Milan last summer. His ban is worldwide and he also misses the European Football Championship with Italy in the summer.
