Oh no! Sandro Tonali won’t be playing in the Newcastle game after all. FIFA has decided to extend his ban worldwide, which means he can’t compete in any football matches for the next 10 months. The Italian Football Federation had already suspended him, but now FIFA has made it official everywhere.
Tonali, who is only 23 years old, was all set to play in the Premier League match against Wolves on Saturday. He was even included in the squad for the trip to the West Midlands. But then, just before the game, he had to be taken out of the lineup.
Newcastle’s manager, Eddie Howe, thought there was a chance Tonali could still play because it takes time for FIFA to approve the ban. But FIFA surprised everyone by saying, ‘Nope, the ban starts right now.’
The Italian federation said Tonali broke a rule about betting on matches. They decided to punish him by banning him from playing football for 18 months. However, the last eight months of the ban will be turned into a ‘therapeutic plan’ to help him with his gambling addiction.
So, Tonali won’t be able to play for the rest of this season. He’ll have to wait until late August to join Howe’s team again. There are reports that he might be allowed to train with Newcastle during his suspension, but Howe doesn’t know if that’s true.
Howe knows it’s going to be tough for Tonali. He said, ‘Sandro’s going to have some really difficult moments ahead. And, at first, he’s going to get a lot of attention.’
Howe has accepted that he might lose Tonali for a long time. He said, ‘You never know what’s going to happen in the future. It’s a lesson for all of us. We need a strong squad that can handle these kinds of situations.’
Some people are saying that Newcastle should have done more research before signing Tonali. But Howe disagrees. He said, ‘There’s no way we could have known. You can’t find out everything about someone’s personal life. It’s just the way it is. We signed him in good faith. There’s always a risk with any player we sign, but these things happen.’