Swedish football legend Zlatan Ibrahimovic spoke about the ongoing case alleging Sandro Tonali of betting on illegal platforms.
Speaking at the ‘Festival dello Sport’ in Trento organised by La Gazzetta dello Sport via TMW, Zlatan Ibrahimovic expressed concern for his former teammate Sandro Tonali and urged his compatriots to help him overcome any addiction he might have. The 42-year-old said: “I know little about this story, I had never noticed anything strange about him. But you shouldn’t judge before you don’t know everything. If he really is sick of gambling you have to help him because it’s like a drug. I too have played at the casino because everyone does what he wants with his money. But you have to understand the situation.”
Zlatan Ibrahimovic also talked about how he became a mentor to the 23-year-old in Milan and assessed how he slowly emerged as a fan favourite. He said: “When he landed at Milan Tonali had arrived from Brescia and had just realized his dream. In the first year he was too much of a fan, I told him that this wasn’t good. He had to take a further step and be decisive to make the fans happy. You could see straight away that he was strong, but playing for Brescia with all due respect is not like playing for Milan. More pressure, different mentality, other objectives.”
Tonali has admitted to his family and agents that he didn’t participate in sports betting, but he did engage in playing blackjack and poker but didn’t know that the portals he used were illegal. But traces found in Nicolo Fagioli’s phone suggest that he did engage in football betting but investigation will remain on.
Trambak Bhattacherjee | GIFN
