Aston Villa star Nicolo Zaniolo’s lawyer: “He never bet, he told me that.”

Aston Villa star Nicolo Zaniolo’s lawyer has revealed that the player never bet illegally and he has already informed his entourage about it.

Zaniolo and Newcastle United’s Sandro Tonali had to withdraw from the national team camp last week, when Nicolo Fagioli confessed that the duo had connections to the betting scandal. It was later reported that both the players denied betting on football, but admitted to playing poker and blackjack and they didn’t know that they were doing that on illegal platforms.

Zaniolo’s lawyer Gianluca Tognozzi recently spoke to La Gazzetta dello Sport, revealing that the Italian never bet on football but he may have played blackjack and poker on illegal platforms.

“Nicolò never bet. He also told me this. It is possible that he played card games such as poker and blackjack on illegal online platforms, without however knowing that they were. We will clarify everything. What do you risk? A fine of a few hundred euros. All this unless there was a repetition of the crime so great as to make it impossible to impose only a financial penalty.”

It has been reported earlier today that while Zaniolo and Tonali have admitted that they never bet illegally, police have found evidence to suggest that they actually did involve themselves in illegal betting and this surfaced after Fagioli’s phone was thoroughly investigated.

Kaustubh Pandey | GIFN