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NEWCASTLE: Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe says he does not know if Sandro Tonali could face a betting ban extension after the Football Association slapped the Italian with further charges.
This week the 23-year-old, who has not kicked a ball since October due to his original ban, was hit with 50 fresh charges about bets placed between August and October, during his time in England.
Tonali is currently serving a 10-month worldwide ban from football after admitting guilt in betting while a player at AC Milan and Brescia. The new charges address his time as a Premier League player.
And while head coach Howe does not know if the FA will look to extend any ban beyond his current August 27, 2024, return date, he hopes they will be lenient for the sake of the player, especially given the charges do not date after he was called in for questioning by Italian authorities.
Howe thinks the player needs help — not further punishment for his battle with addiction.
“We don’t know (what will happen), is the honest answer,” said Howe when quizzed by press at the club’s Benton training base ahead of the visit of West Ham United to St. James’ Park this weekend. “But I certainly hope for Sandro that there are no further consequences.
“He has suffered during this period. He has sought help, he’s been very honest. He has admitted he has an issue, and I think the best thing for Sandro would be to resume his career having taken his punishment and having learned a lot of lessons from this.
“That illness was there and people should look at it that way and not, ‘Let’s throw the book at him and let’s punish him even further’, because I don’t think that gets to the root of the problem. We need to protect all our players because this is something that’s open to everybody and becoming a bigger problem in society, so this isn’t just a problem for Sandro.
“If that ban was extended, we’d still be feeling that pain and so would Sandro, because he wants to play football, and he is in a good place, doing well off the pitch. I think he should be allowed the chance to move forward with his career. I will be hugely disappointed if that ban was extended.”
Newcastle United signed Tonali from Milan in the summer for around $65 million, not knowing that he could be hit by a ban. Does Howe feel let down by his midfielder?
“I don’t feel let down,” he said. “Sandro has an illness. If this was associated with another form of illness, I think there would be a lot more sympathy and understanding. That illness did not stop the minute he moved to England. That illness was still there.
“It was only when everything that had happened — instantly he was very apologetic and sorry for what he had done — that he needed help. We have tried, along with Sandro’s representatives and his family, to get him the help that he needs to recover from this. This is something that won’t go away for him, so he has regular meetings in Italy and in England to deal with the problems that he has.”
The hiding of the addiction has drawn many to question the role of outgoing sporting director Dan Ashworth, whose task it was to make sure due diligence was carried out on any new signings.
Howe has sympathy with all parties in that regard. He said: “When someone has something they want to hide on a personal level from their closest family, there is no way a football club could have known,” he said.
“I think this could happen to any club at any time. Even for us in the future, you just don’t know. It’s very difficult to dig that deep if someone wants to hide something. We will endeavour to do everything possible to ensure in any future transfer there are no problems like this again.”
Tonali has until April 5 to respond to the 50 charges. While it is not known what course of action the FA will seek to take should a guilty plea be entered, it is possible the ban will run concurrently to the one he is serving now. This would see the player still remain on course for an August return to football.