Newcastle United midfielder Sandro Tonali will be banned from football for 10 months over a betting scandal, the president of Italy’s football association has said.

The 23-year-old only signed for Newcastle from AC Milan this summer. The Geordies paid the Italian club a fee in the region of £55m for his services.

As well as the ban, Tonali must also attend treatment sessions for problem gamblers and give a series of talks about his experience over a further eight-month period as part of an agreement with the Italian football federation.

The ban is also expected to apply to international football with Italy.

The plea-bargain agreement, confirmed by the Italian football federation’s President Gabriele Gravina, will rule Tonali out for the remainder of Newcastle’s season and next summer’s Euro 2024 tournament should he be banned from international games.

The midfielder came off the bench for Eddie Howe’s team during their 1-0 defeat to Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League at St James’s Park last night.

Tonali’s agent, Giuseppe Riso, admitted earlier this month that the player is fighting a gambling addiction.

Mary ‘Tiny’ Gallacher: Rangers pay tribute to beloved club servant who has died

Italy’s Sandro Tonali and Nicolo Zaniolo dropped from national squad ahead of England match after ‘betting probe’

Football clubs should be stopped from using crypto tokens for fan engagement, say MPs

He said: “Sandro suffers gambling addiction. He’s fighting to avoid that and I’m sure he will win this difficult game.

“He is in shock, he is 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.”

Mr Riso also said that Tonali told prosecutors he bet on AC Milan and Brescia when he played for those clubs.

Tonali’s ban comes during an investigation into the use of illegal betting platforms by football players in Italy.

Nicolo Fagioli, Juventus midfielder and Tonali’s international teammate, has accepted a seven-month ban as part of a settlement with the FIGC after admitting to gambling problems.

Aston Villa’s Nicolò Zaniolo is also being investigated by Turin prosecutors, who are probing soccer players using illegal websites to bet on games.

On 18 October, Newcastle said it is offering Tonali its “full support”. Club manager Eddie Howe said Tonali is in “pain and distress”, and promised to throw “arms around Sandro and protect him”

Be the first to get Breaking News

Install the Sky News app for free

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.

Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

You can receive Breaking News alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News App. You can also follow @SkyNews on X or subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.

Related posts:

‘Dear British, we envy you’: Germany’s top-selling newspaper admires UK’s vaccine rollout Almost 70,000 COVID lockdown fines handed out, with steep rise since Christmas How are the UK’s travel lists decided? Extremist views flourishing in schools thanks to dangerous online content, teachers say Police officer who tasered girl, 10, ‘has case to answer for gross misconduct’ ‘I can tell a wrong ‘un a mile away’ – Kate Moss reveals dangers of the fashion industry Appeal after man shot dead and another man stabbed at gathering of up to 100 people Cordon lifted in Wennington as images show devastation of major blaze on UK’s hottest day In pictures: Meghan and Harry Netflix series reveals previously unseen photos of Sussexes Ex-Dreamboys boss who tried to murder wife after seeing her with reality TV star dies in prison Dock worker who plotted to smuggle £118m of cocaine in banana crates jailed Nottingham maternity scandal set to be biggest in NHS – as ‘disregarded’ families demand apology