Aston Villa can now ‘breathe a sigh of relief’ after Nicolo Zaniolo met with Italian prosecutors yesterday to again state his case and insist, he hasn’t bet on football.
That’s according to Gazzetta dello Sport, who, alongside Corriere dello Sport, cover the Italian midfielder’s meeting yesterday.
Gazzetta say Zaniolo spent almost three hours on the seventh floor of the Turin Prosecutor’s Office yesterday, where he was questioned by the public prosecutor Manuela Pedrotta.
They say he left that meeting ‘with a lighter spirit’ and his future clear as there is no evidence against him that can lead to a sporting ban similar to the ones handed down to Sandro Tonali and Nicolo Fagioli.
Zaniolo has again insisted that he ‘occasionally played poker and blackjack on illegal platforms’ but clarified that he had never been subjected to threats or intimidation or bet on football in any form.
The newspaper says that based on the evidence in the hands of the Turin Prosecutor’s Office, he hasn’t violated article 24 of the code of sporting justice and unless there is new evidence discovered he won’t be banned.
According to them, what’s been presented in ‘the drafts’ so far made Unai Emery and Monchi, Aston Villa’s sporting director, ‘breathe a sigh of relief’.
They have always believed what Zaniolo has told them and are fully planning with him, with the player travelling back to Birmingham last night to be available for the clash with Luton.
Corriere dello Sport have similar information, saying Zaniolo arrived in a ‘dark mood’ but left far happier after two and a half hours in the offices, an hour of which was ‘pleasantries’.
The rest of the time was spent analysing chats extracted from his mobile phone, questions and requests for ‘detailed information’ on the illegal sites he has used and then ‘assumptions’ constructed and dismantled one at a time.
The Aston Villa man was fully compliant with the prosecutors, answering everything that they had as they looked for connections.
They want to understand the links to organised crime, if there are any at all, and it seems that was largely the focus of the interview with Zaniolo.
As there is no evidence of him betting on football, as he has always maintained, he appears set to be handed a ‘mandatory penalty’ for betting on ‘clandestine portals’ and that will be the end of the matter.
