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Claim: An X user claims Italian footballer Tonali has been banned from playing football for ten months.
Verdict: Misleading. Although Tonali received a ten-month ban from playing football, the verdict was given in 2023 after he breached football betting rules. He returned to action in 2024.
Full Text
Sandro Tonali scored a late winner and made a crucial comeback for Italy in an exciting 5-4 victory against Israel in a World Cup qualifier.
The gli Azzurri of The Blues in English initially experienced a setback in the 16th minute when Manuel Locatelli put the ball in his net. But Moises Kean instantly restored a leveller for the Italians five minutes later. Dor Peretz put Israel ahead again in the 52nd minute, and Kean came to the rescue for Italy again only two minutes later. Matteo Politano then set Italy ahead in the 58th minute.
The Italians seemed to have had a better plot of the match encounter against their Asian counterparts when Giacomo Raspadori scored for the gli Azzuri nine minutes away from stoppage time. But they got themselves a setback for the second time in the match when Alessandro Bastoni scored an own goal. Peretz scored for Israel again in the 89th minute, and it was already telltale of equals until Tonali stole the limelight when he struck a late winner for Italy in added time.
After the match, an X user, @Nedao454, shared a picture suggesting that the Newcastle midfielder has been handed a ten-month ban.
The picture, which captured Tonali looking dismayed with his hands over his head, is captioned, “Sandro Tonali has been banned from football for ten months.”
As of Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025, the post had generated over 3 million views, 197 comments, 2,100 retweets, 51,000 likes, and 994 bookmarks.
Several questions poured in the comments section about whether there is any truth to the development.
“Why did he get banned?” @Hardey121 inquired.
“What did he do?” @pepe U30 asked.
“Did this actually happen?” @JIRGLARTWW asked.
In light of the questions raised concerning the claim’s validity, DUBAWA decided to verify it.
Verification
DUBAWA conducted a keyword search on the alleged ten-month ban given to Tonali and found related news reports about it.
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) report published on Oct. 23, 2023, informs that Tonali received a ten-month-long ban away from football for breaching betting rules. He was banned by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC).
The British outlet further informed that the Italian International was not eligible to play until Aug. 2024 and would not have featured in the Euro 2024 competition.
DUBAWA discovered that Tonali had flouted the rule that prohibits football players from staking on football events organised by FIGC, Union of European Associations (UEFA), and Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), and he was fined €20,000 alongside the ban.
Moreover, a report published by the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN) on Oct. 26, 2023, relayed a similar development.
Meanwhile, on Sept. 16, 2024, Sky Sports reported the Newcastle midfielder’s return to football and how he disclosed to the British sports outlet that before the ban, he had been living two lives, but he was now a single person after his return.
“Before these 10 months, before the last year, I don’t know, but it’s a little bit different because I was another person. I was two different people in my life and in football. And now I am only one person, only one,” he told Sky Sports.
Sky Sports further reported that Tonali was given a “hero’s welcome” upon his return to St. James Park ahead of their 2-1 victory over Tottenham.
ESPN also reported on Aug. 30, 2024, how Tonali was “called back” to the Italy squad after serving his ten-month gambling ban.
BBC also reported on Aug. 27, 2024, of his return and how he had taken comfort in helping other gamblers manage their problems as he served his ban.
Meanwhile, no recent report of the Italian’s alleged ban has been released after the 2023 incident.
Conclusion
The claim is misleading as Tonali’s ban happened in 2023.
