Footballer Fagioli Has €3.3M Gambling Debt: Creditors Threatened to Break His Legs
Suspended Juventus midfielder Nicolo Fagioli has gambling debts of €3.3m, according to shock reports.
Nicolo Fagioli is one of a handful of names revealed in a gambling probe that has sent shock waves through Italy football. Some 40 individuals are believed to be under probe.
Sandro Tonali from AC Milan and now with Newcastle is another named along with Aston Villa's Nicolo Zaniolo.
Il Corriere dello Sport has detailed more of Fagioli's hearing with local prosecutors.
"I started betting in Tirrenia during the training camp of the Under 21 national team... When I was at Cremonese my mother advised me to go to Sert for treatment... At night I stopped sleeping, the debt obsessed me," Fagioli said during his deposition to the Turin prosecutor's office.
He had also reportedly asked for €40,000 loans "from Gatti and Dragusin" and was even threatened, "I'll break your legs, they told me", from his creditors.
Tonali's agent has said his client suffers from gambling addiction.
"Sandro is playing an important game against gambling addiction - he will win this one too,' he said of this 23-year-old client.
"I'd like to thank Newcastle who have always stood by Sandro. He is in shock, shaken and sad. I hope that this experience saves his life and that of many others, that it helps those who fall into the same habit as him.
Riso added: "Sandro is training, and on Saturday he could also play. He understood that he has to face this problem in a strong, determined way. The club is absolutely at this moment by his side."
- Alistair Prescott, Gambling911.com
