Italy National Team Sends Two Players Home on Football Probe

Sandro Tonali and Nicolo Zaniolo left the Italian national football team on Thursday after prosecutors in Turin launched an investigation.

(Bloomberg) — Sandro Tonali and Nicolo Zaniolo left the Italian national football team on Thursday after prosecutors in Turin launched an investigation.

The country’s football federation said in a statement that it had moved to allow the two players to return to their respective clubs, Newcastle and Aston Villa, in England’s Premier League.

The two could be involved in illegal online betting, daily la Repubblica reported Friday, citing an investigation that also includes a Juventus Football Club SpA player.

Online sports betting has exploded in recent years, and presence from gaming companies is now ubiquitous at stadiums and on TV and social media. That’s led sporting authorities to scramble in a bid to police players’ participation.

The US’s NFL, wary of the appearance of game-fixing, has handed out rounds of suspensions for violations of league gambling policies, while Switzerland’s Sportradar said it identified 903 suspicious matches across 10 sports in 76 countries in 2021.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com