The betting scandal that gripped Italian football in October is far from over yet, with AC Milan defender Alessandro Florenzi being placed under investigation for alleged illegal gambling.
Following the bans that were handed to Newcastle‘s Sandro Tonali and Juventus‘ Nicolo Fagioli, the scandal has gone relatively quiet with Aston Villa‘s Nicolo Zaniolo still waiting to hear what the extent of his potential punishment will be. In the meantime, he has been named in Luciano Spalletti‘s latest Italy Men’s National Team squad.
A host of other names were linked to the case in October but did not appear to gather any traction, suggesting that many false reports were swirling about a number of Serie A and Serie B players.
What is Florenzi accused of?
The investigations into Tonali and Zaniolo rocked the Italy Men’s National Team during the previous international break, but Florenzi was not in the latest Spalletti squad.
The Rossoneri player, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport (via Sempre Milan), is under investigation for betting on illegal platforms. The news came as a shock to many, given his name was not among the many that were linked with the scandal originally.
Milan say that they had no idea of Florenzi’s alleged crimes and they learned about this from the news agencies. There has been no comment from the player or the club at this stage.
He will head to Corso Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan soon to be questioned by prosecutor Manuela Pedrotta.
What punishment could Florenzi face?
It seems at this point that Florenzi’s case is more similar to that of Zaniolo, rather than Tonali and Fagioli. The latter two were found guilty of betting on football matches, leading to a 10-month ban and a seven-month ban respectively.
For Zaniolo and Florenzi, they may have only been betting on card games such as Black Jack, rather than football matches. That would mean there is just a fine to pay and no sporting repercussions for the 32-year-old defender.
As we saw with the sudden escalation of Tonali’s involvement when it became clear that, despite denying it, he had been betting on Milan and Brescia matches, the situation can change rapidly.
Florenzi will still be allowed to continue playing for Milan in the meantime.
