Aston Villa midfielder Nicolo Zaniolo’s involvement with the Italian betting scandal may now be set to come to an end as there is no further evidence against him.
That’s according to Gazzetta dello Sport, who say the Aston Villa man is ‘increasingly seeing the light’ after the darkness of the last few weeks.
The newspaper explains that there is currently no file open on the Italian at the federal prosecutor’s office, and he is now facing a simple criminal fine rather than a sporting one.
Basically, it appears that there is no evidence Zaniolo was involved in betting on football like Sandro Tonali and Nicolo Fagioli, and thus there is no need to ban him in the same manner as the other two.
That does not mean he will be getting off free and he will still be fined ‘a few thousand Euros’ for gambling on blackjack and poker on illegal betting platforms.
This is something the Aston Villa man has admitted to since day one and while the investigation is still ongoing and it can’t be ruled out that there will be last minute twists, nothing is being filtered out by investigators.
There have been no signs from them and there are no ‘investigative clauses’ hinting that the situation will change. Their current evidence seems to be the limit and the apparent line in the sand.
The aim for the player is to now resolve the criminal issue as soon as possible and get back to focusing on football, and perhaps even a return to the Italian national side.
That will be down to his own performances and Luciano Spalletti as there are no ‘federal contraindications or precautions’ to be respected. In simpler terms, Zaniolo appears to be in the clear and he, Aston Villa and Italy can now put the episode behind them.
