Sandro Tonali allowed to train with Newcastle despite ten-month football ban

Sandro Tonali will be allowed to train with Newcastle during his ten-month betting ban, talkSPORT understands.

The 23-year-old has been suspended from playing for Newcastle and Italy until August 2024 after admitting betting on his own team while at AC Milan and Brescia.

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Tonali has also been ordered to undergo eight months of rehabilitation activities.

The midfielder, who signed for £55million in July, will miss the remainder of the 2023/24 season, as well as Euro 2024, should Italy qualify.

However, talkSPORT understands he will be able to train with Eddie Howe’s men and compete in club friendlies during his competitive absence.

Italian football federation [FIGC] president Gabriele Gravina said: “The FIGC Prosecutor and Tonali have reached an agreement which I have already approved. The agreement consists of a 10-month ban plus eight months of rehab activities and at least 16 public appearances.”

Tonali’s representatives spent Monday in discussions over a plea bargain with prosecutors, who launched an investigation while he was away on international duty earlier this month.

Compatriot Nicolo Zaniolo, currently on loan at Aston Villa from Galatasaray, was also subject to the probe.

After the news emerged, Tonali’s agent Giuseppe Riso revealed the player was living with a ‘gambling addiction’.

The Italian has only made 12 appearances for the Magpies following his summer move from the San Siro.

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His last outing before the ban was confirmed came on Wednesday night in the 1-0 Champions League defeat to Borussia Dortmund.

Brentford striker Ivan Toney is currently serving an eight-month ban from football after being found guilty of betting offences by the English FA.

The England star was not allowed to train for the first four months of his ban and talkSPORT co-host Simon Jordan questioned the different treatment across football federations.

Jordan said: “I don’t know why, maybe because the offence is something different to what Ivan Toney had done, the level of it, the fact that Ivan Toney may well have committed a greater number of transgressions or maybe the fact he misrepresented information to the tribunal in the first instance, or maybe the fact the offence happened Italy.

“But it does bring a different dynamic, so it will bring out questions and an argument over why they are being treated differently.”

Asked if AC Milan should be held responsible, suggesting they might have known what was coming, the former Crystal Palace chairman added: “If Newcastle didn’t asked the question, it’s not AC Milan’s responsibility to advance an answer to a question that wasn’t asked.

“If Newcastle said to Milan, ‘Does your player have any issues we should be aware of, like gambling?’, and they said no, then there might be a discussion there, but I suspect that’s probably not the case.”