Stephan El Shaarawy and Nicola Zalewski are reported to have been involved in illegal gambling activities. Both players have recently played for AS Roma football clubs.
The players separately denied the allegations at AS Roma and also released their own statements confirming the accounts of El Shaarawy and Zalewski.
“In reference to the rumours spread in recent days about the alleged involvement of some of its members in the investigation into football betting, AS Roma expresses its full assistance to Nicola Zalewski and Stephan El Shaarawy, victims of repeated hypotheses that have unfairly broken the organisation’s image,” AS Roma said.
“He has complete confidence in Nicola and Stephan when they say they have nothing to do with this case. “
El Shaarawy was included in Italy’s last squad for the matches against Malta and England. Zalewski, who is of Italian descent, plays in Poland but is not yet decided for his final matches.
The reports of El Shaarawy and Zalewski’s involvement are the latest in the latest breakdown in the ongoing illegal saga.
In recent weeks, several big names in Italian football have become involved in illegal gambling.
Nicolò Fagioli, who plays in Juventus’ Serie A, is the first call-up. Reports claim that he gambled on an unlicensed betting site. According to the rules of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), state athletes who bet on the game can face a ban of up to 3 years.
This week, Italy’s federal prosecutor’s office approved a seven-month suspension for Fagioli for betting on soccer. Juventus say they will help the player serve his suspension.
“Juventus confirms its willingness for Nicolò Fagioli to embark on this path, offering the child the obligation to follow the indicated healing plan and, as expressly provided for in the agreement, also engaging with the federation to identify the planned match cycles. ” Juve said.
“We are firmly convinced that Nicolò, with the club, his teammates, his family and the professionals who lend him a hand, will face the healing and training process with a wonderful sense of duty and, once the disqualification has been served, we will be able to resume the festival with peace of mind.
Two other Italian national team players, Sandro Tonali and Nicolo Zaniolo, have also been linked. Tonali plays for Newcastle United in the English Premier League, while Zaniolo plays for Aston Villa, also in the Premier League. Both players were sent home after being on the national team after it was shown they were under investigation.
Newcastle has shown that Tonali is being investigated by Italian prosecutors and the FIGC for illegal activities. Aston Villa has yet to comment on Zaniolo’s alleged involvement.
Amid the ongoing dispute, the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) this week called for a review of Italy’s blanket ban on gambling advertising. This follows a report revealing that consumers in the country spend €25 billion on black-market gambling sites.
Published via La Gazzetta dello Sport, the report suggests that €18. 5 billion a year is staked on unlicensed sites. This accounts for around 75% of all black market bets in Italy.
This is why the EGBA is urging the Italian government to do more to make customers aware of those risks. This may simply come with the revision of Italy’s blanket ban on gambling advertising. Lately, the ban bans all the bureaucracy of gambling classified ads in Italy. However, the EGBA claims that the lack of wisdom of licensed operators may simply be a matter of the higher rates of black market gambling.