A charity has called on professional footballers to take a stance against the gambling industry’s relationship with the game.
Newcastle midfielder Sandro Tonali and striker Nicolo Zaniolo, currently on loan at Aston Villa from Galatasaray, last week returned to their clubs from Italy’s training camp after it emerged they were under investigation by the Italian Prosecutor’s Office and Italian Football Federation (FIGC) in relation to illegal betting activity.
The pair are the latest in a series of players to find themselves the subject of allegations and The Big Step, a charity led by people harmed by gambling which is campaigning for an end to betting advertising and sponsorship in football, believes it is time for their team-mates to stand up and be counted.
A spokesperson told the PA news agency: “These moments can be seen as a tipping point and it does help show the ridiculous current situation of the relationship between gambling and football.
“But I think also it’s time for more and more footballers to take a stance against it because these are their colleagues, these are their peers, these are their friends that are being harmed.
“At what point will footballers say, ‘You know what? I’m not going to play with this gambling company on the front of my shirt, I’m not going to play in this stadium with thousands of adverts’.
“That’s what I think will really tip it next.”
Juventus midfielder Nicolo Fagioli was last week fined and given a seven-month ban with a further five months suspended by the FIGC for breaching betting rules, while England striker Ivan Toney was handed an eight-month suspension in May and Nottingham Forest defender Harry Toffolo a suspended five-month ban last month.
Tonali, a £55million summer signing from AC Milan, has reportedly admitted betting on his former club to win and his agent Giuseppe Riso has revealed the 23-year-old is battling “gambling addiction” at a time when Newcastle have three betting partners – FUN88, BetMGM and Sportsbet.io.
The Big Step spokesperson added: “If you watch their (Newcastle’s) match on Saturday, you’ll see a constant rotating presence of these companies whilst one of their own employees – one of their key employees, their players – is going to be sitting there watching it, possibly even playing, trying to recover from this thing that is being advertised to him relentlessly.”
While gambling addiction is an issue in wider society and other sports, the charity believes it is particularly prevalent in football and has called for Government intervention to address it.
The spokesperson said: “It is important to recognise that footballers, they have a lot of money, they have a lot of spare time and they’re in this environment where there is a gambling culture, and that’s not just through the advertising, but also just through the association between the two things, gambling and sport.
“That’s why there need to be extra safeguards for footballers compared with others. It’s time Government stepped up.
“How many more players, how many more fans have to be harmed before Government really takes control of this situation and just resets this relationship for good?”
Chelsea quartet left at home as Bompastor rotates squad for Celtic clash
Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor has said that they will be without four key players ahead of their Champions League game away to Celtic on Wednesday.
Bompastor confirmed that Millie Bright, Mayra Ramirez, Sjoeke Nusken and Kadeisha Buchanan have not travelled to Scotland for their encounter at Celtic Park.
The Blues know a victory will seal their progression to the knockout stages, though have decided to rest a few of their key players during a hectic fixture schedule.
Their trip to Scotland will be the second of three matches inside seven days in all competitions for Bompastor's side and, as a result, she has decided to rotate her squad.
"The squad is in a good place and we have a good dynamic and we are full of confidence," she told a press conference
"We have been playing a lot of games and this week we play three games so it’s important to manage players as individuals.
“We have some players who didn’t travel for this game. Kadeisha Buchanan, Millie Bright, Sjoeke Nusken and Mayra Ramirez didn’t travel."
Chelsea come into the game with a 100% record in all competitions under Bompastor, including two wins from two against Real Madrid and Twente in the Champions League.
And they will be confident of maintaining their perfect run, having lost just one of their previous 20 group stage matches in the competition (W14 D5) and are unbeaten across their last 14 (W11 D3).
“As you know, Chelsea have a good squad with quality and a good team will start the game and be competitive because we want to finish first in this group," she said.
Their early-season form has them second in the Women's Super League and top of their Champions League group, at least three points ahead of any other team.
Despite resting players, Bompastor reassured people that it was Chelsea's ambition to fight on all fronts.
“The Champions League is important and we have ambition and we want to make sure we finish first in the group," she said.
“We have ambitions and if we want to go for all the competitions then you need to beat every team.
“It will start again in March and that’s when the really important games start, but right now we are focused on the group stage.”
Al-Riyadh 0-1 Al-Nassr: Mane hands visitors bragging rights
Sadio Mane's first-half strike ensured Al-Nassr maintained their unbeaten start to the Saudi Pro League season with a 1-0 win over rivals Al-Riyadh.
He smartly finished from close range in the 41st minute, with his goal enough to seal the three points and move Al-Nassr up to third in the table.
Al-Nassr's threat grew as the first half went on, with Milan Borjan making a fine double stop to deny Ronaldo and Talisca once again before Mohamed Simakan struck the post on the rebound.
Mane would eventually break the deadlock in the 41st minute though, darting in front of his marker to meet Abdulrahman Ghareeb's low cross and rifle it into the roof of the net.
The Senegalese striker arguably should have doubled his tally before the break, but was denied by Borjan's stretching save when one-on-one with the Canadian.
Talisca should have wrapped up the points in the final three minutes, but he blazed over an empty net from close range, before having a late goal disallowed for offside.
Data Debrief: Derby delight for Al-Nassr
After drawing their last two matches, this win was a welcome result for Al-Nassr as they racked up their sixth victory of the season to close the gap at the top of the table to six points.
It is just the second time Al-Nassr have avoided defeat in their first 10 matches of a Pro League campaign, last doing so in 2013-14, when they won the league title.
They are now unbeaten in their last seven Pro League derbies (W4 D3), their longest such streak since a run of nine between 2018 and 2020.
This is the first time in eight such games that they have kept a clean sheet though, and limited their opponents to just five shots throughout.
Al-Hilal 3-1 Al-Ettifaq: Champions return to the summit with dominant win
Al-Hilal surged back to the Saudi Pro League summit with a convincing 3-1 triumph over 10-man Al-Ettifaq on Friday.
The defending champions are now one point clear of Al-Ittihad in the standings, with their latest victory piling more misery on Al-Ettifaq boss, Steven Gerrard.
Al-Hilal struggled in the early exchanges at the Kingdom Arena, registering their first effort on Marek Rodak's goal in the 38th minute courtesy of Marcos Leonardo.
But the hosts would take the lead in the second minute of first-half stoppage time, with Mitrovic on hand to steer Renan Lodi's delivery into the net from close range.
Al-Hilal then doubled their advantage nine minutes from time when Malcolm collected the ball from Abdullah Al Hamddan, before rounding Rodak and finishing into an empty net.
However, hopes of a comeback from the visitors were revived in second-half stoppage time when Joao Cancelo gave away a penalty after a handball inside the box.
Vitinho stepped up and fired home the spot-kick, but Al-Hilal confirmed the win two minutes later through Mohammed Al Qahtani, with visiting forward Abdullah Radif shown a late red card for violent conduct.
Data Debrief: Happy Friday!
Al-Hilal continued their quest for a 20th Saudi Pro League crown with a dominant display against Al-Ettifaq, extending their unbeaten run against their opponents in the process.
They have now not lost their last 13 league encounters against Al-Ettifaq (W12 D1), surpassing their longest unbeaten streak against them in the competition (12 matches between 2008 and 2013 - W8 D4).
Al-Hilal have now lost only three matches when hosting teams on a Friday in the Pro League out of 55 matches (W46 D6 L3).
Lodi also took his goal contribution tally to eight this season in all competitions (three goals, five assists). During his European career with three different clubs, he only notched more goal involvements (nine) in the 2021-22 campaign with Atletico Madrid.
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