Sandro Tonali and Nicolo Zaniolo are sent home by Italy due to a sports betting investigation

The Italian football association said on Thursday that Sandro Tonali and Nicolo Zaniolo had been expelled from the team’s training camp after a criminal investigation into suspected gambling offenses was opened.

The FIGC stated in a statement that prosecutors from Turin had officially notified midfielder Tonali and forward Zaniolo of the investigation at the Azzurri’s Coverciano training facility. Tonali and Zaniolo both play in England for Newcastle United and Aston Villa, respectively.

The two will not be present for Italy’s Euro 2024 qualifying matches against Malta and England. The European champions finished second in Group C, although they are tied with Ukraine and North Macedonia on seven points.

The two players have been granted permission to return to their respective clubs, The FIGC said, “regardless of the nature of the investigative order, given that in this situation they are not in the right condition to face the commitments of the coming days.”

The information was released a day after FIGC prosecutors said they were looking into Juventus midfielder Nicolo Fagioli, who is suspected of using several aliases to make wagers on shady websites.

The 22-year-old, who is also under investigation by the criminal prosecutors in Turin, allegedly turned himself in, according to Fagioli’s attorneys.

Fagioli may be suspended for three years and fined 25,000 euros ($26,325) if the FIGC’s sports justice rule, which forbids professional athletes from wagering on football, is found to be broken.

When Newcastle acquired Tonali from AC Milan in the summer, he set a new record for the most expensive Italian football player. The 23-year-old has made 15 appearances for his nation.

Zaniolo, who has 15 total caps for his country, was once the bright young star of Italian football, but after suffering two serious knee injuries and quarrelling with Jose Mourinho at Roma, he was sent packing and ended up at Galatasaray, who in August loaned him to Villa.

Tonali and Zaniolo were under investigation earlier on Thursday, according to infamous Italian paparazzo Fabrizio Corona, who four months earlier stated that Fagioli had a gambling problem.

Corona is a well regarded rumor expert in Italy who has served time in jail for using illegally obtained photos to extort football teams and players.

He said that one of the two players under investigation even gambled on his own side while sitting on the bench for substitutions.