US star McKennie, Tonali, Fagioli among 13 players being investigated for illegal gambling
Celje's Juanjo Nieto is challenged by Fiorentina's Nicolo Fagioli, rear, during the Europa Conference League first-leg quarterfinal soccer match between Celje and Fiorentina in Celje, Slovenia, Thursday, April 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Igor Kupljenik)
Newcastle United's Sandro Tonali appeals to an official during the English Premier League soccer match between Brentford and Newcastle United at St James' Park in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, Wednesday, April 2, 2025. (Owen Humphreys/PA via AP)
Italy's Sandro Tonali grimaces in pain after a tackle by Germany's Jamal Musiala during the soccer Nations League quarterfinal first leg soccer match between Italy and Germany, at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
FILE - Inter Milan's Benjamin Pavard, left, and Juventus' Weston McKennie, right, challenge for the ball during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Juventus and Inter Milan at the Juventus Stadium in Turin, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025. (Spada/LaPresse via AP, File)
FILE - Juventus' Weston McKennie celebrates his side's second goal during the Champions League, opening phase soccer match between Juventus and Manchester City at the Allianz stadium in Turin, Italy, Tuesday, Wednesday, Dec.11, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, File)
FILE - Juventus' Weston McKennie celebrates his side's second goal during the Champions League, opening phase soccer match between Juventus and Manchester City at the Allianz stadium in Turin, Italy, Tuesday, Wednesday, Dec.11, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, File)
Celje's Juanjo Nieto is challenged by Fiorentina's Nicolo Fagioli, rear, during the Europa Conference League first-leg quarterfinal soccer match between Celje and Fiorentina in Celje, Slovenia, Thursday, April 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Igor Kupljenik)
Newcastle United's Sandro Tonali appeals to an official during the English Premier League soccer match between Brentford and Newcastle United at St James' Park in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, Wednesday, April 2, 2025. (Owen Humphreys/PA via AP)
Italy's Sandro Tonali grimaces in pain after a tackle by Germany's Jamal Musiala during the soccer Nations League quarterfinal first leg soccer match between Italy and Germany, at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
FILE - Inter Milan's Benjamin Pavard, left, and Juventus' Weston McKennie, right, challenge for the ball during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Juventus and Inter Milan at the Juventus Stadium in Turin, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025. (Spada/LaPresse via AP, File)
FILE - Juventus' Weston McKennie celebrates his side's second goal during the Champions League, opening phase soccer match between Juventus and Manchester City at the Allianz stadium in Turin, Italy, Tuesday, Wednesday, Dec.11, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, File)
MILAN (AP) — United States midfielder Weston McKennie is among 13 soccer players being investigated for illegal online betting in Italy, according to widespread media reports.
A new investigation by Milan prosecutors stems from evidence given by Sandro Tonali and Nicolò Fagioli in 2023. Both then served lengthy bans, ruling them out for most of last season, after agreeing plea bargains that also included therapy for a gambling addiction.
Advertisement
Juventus midfielder Fagioli — currently on loan at Fiorentina — was banned for seven months after admitting to betting on matches, while Newcastle's Tonali received a longer suspension of 10 months as his bets also included his team's games — at the time AC Milan.
The duo are also named in the new investigation, along with Fagioli's then-Juventus teammate McKennie and nine other current or former Serie A players, as well as Leeds defender Junior Firpo.
There is no evidence that the other players ever gambled on soccer matches but their names emerged from depositions given by Tonali and Fagioli and analysis of their devices.
The players are being investigated for using illegal platforms for online poker and betting on other sports. As such they do not risk a ban, but instead a maximum fine of 250 euros ($284) from Italian authorities.
Advertisement
Tonali and Fagioli have also been accused of promoting those sites among their teammates and other soccer players.
Fagioli said in a deposition: 'I pointed out to (former Aston Villa forward Nicolò) Zaniolo illegal sites where he could make online bets, on roulette or poker … the organisers of the sites had told me that they would give me some advantages if I brought other bettors.'
A message about Zaniolo found on Fagioli's phone also said: 'Bravo, capture him, work for me.'
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hamilton Spectator
8 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Adam Scott turns back the clock and climbs within shot of the lead at U.S. Open
OAKMONT, Pa. (AP) — His hair is speckled with grey. Even if he remains a fan favourite in some circles, when picks to win the U.S. Open were being made, not many included 44-year-old Adam Scott. Once third-round action at Oakmont wrapped up Saturday, though, the list of the top 10 names on the U.S. Open leaderboard was made up of two kinds of players: Those who had never won a major. And Scott, the 2013 Masters champion. On a day that brought back memories of that Sunday, 12 years ago at Augusta, one of Australia's biggest sports stars matched the day's best score with a 3-under 67. He'll enter the final round tied for second at 3 under with J.J. Spaun, one shot behind American Sam Burns, with whom Scott will play alongside Sunday in final pairing. Not bad for the man who came out of Friday's round of 70 and called it 'even-par, old-man golf.' 'It's huge, obviously,' Scott said. 'For sure I'll be nervous but I'm in a great spot. I'm happy to be one behind, not sleeping on the lead and that kind of stuff.' If the only player among the top contenders who harbours memories of what it's like to close on one of golf's biggest stages can pull it off Sunday, he'll become the second-oldest winner of America's national championship, behind Hale Irwin, who was 45 when he won at Medinah in 1990. Setting aside the idea that the U.S. Open and Oakmont are supposed to be the sort of nerve-jangling test that the 40-something set isn't great at, Scott played the final six holes in calm, damp conditions in 3 under. That included a tee shot to inside five feet for birdie on 13, an approach on 14 to a foot for birdie, a 14-footer for another birdie on No. 17 and a two-putt from 55 feet on the 18th hole to close with a par. With a ball speed measured at 187 miles per hour on the 18th tee box, and a drive that travelled 331 yards, some of this looked more like Scott back in 2014, when, partly on the strength of that Masters victory, he passed Tiger Woods to vault to No. 1 in the world ranking. Scott finished second two times last year, including at the BMW Championship in the playoffs, but has not been lighting up the PGA Tour in 2025; he doesn't have a top-10 finish this year. But, he said, things have been trending in the right direction lately. 'I started hitting it better off the tee in the last month, and usually over my career, I've seen that bleed through the rest of the game,' Scott said. 'I've slowly done it. I'm not exactly firing on all cylinders, but it's a nice thing having some confidence coming into tomorrow.' If this were a game of resumes, not driving, chipping and putting, Scott would already have the trophy. This marks the Aussie's 96th straight major — the longest active streak and second-longest of all time only to Jack Nicklaus, who played in 146 straight. This also marks Scott's 97th overall major. The other four players at even or better heading into Sunday — Burns, Spaun, Viktor Hovland and Carlos Ortiz — have combined to play 63. ___ AP golf:
San Francisco Chronicle
10 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Sam Burns holds steady on soggy Oakmont to lead US Open
OAKMONT, Pa. (AP) — Sam Burns only wobbled twice on a soggy Oakmont course Saturday and held his nerve with a great lag from just inside 60 feet on the final hole for a 1-under 69, leaving him one round away from a U.S. Open title and no margin for error. Burns, who has never contended in his 20 previous majors, next takes on the Sunday pressure of golf's most stringent test alongside Adam Scott, the 44-year-old Australian and the only player among the top 10 with experience winning a major. Scott, whose lone major was 12 years ago at the Masters, didn't make a mistake since a soft bogey on the opening hole and looked far younger than his 44 years down the stretch with brilliant iron play and enough putts for a 67, leaving him one shot behind. This was shaping up to be a wild chase to the finish, with only four players under par. That starts with Burns at 4-under 206. He has five PGA Tour titles, the last one more than two years ago. He is coming off a playoff loss last week in the Canadian Open. J.J. Spaun, who lost in a playoff at The Players Championship in March, kept pace with Burns throughout the back nine until the end, when he couldn't save par from a bunker and shot 69. He joined Scott a shot behind. 'It seemed like we were kind of back and forth,' Spaun said. 'He would take the lead, I would take the lead, I would fall back, whatever. But it was fun. You can't really play against your opponent; you got to play this course. There's just so much on demand with every shot.' The other survivor to par was Viktor Hovland, who has been smiling as much as anyone on a course that has been exasperating to so many all week. Hovland salvaged a bogey from an opening tee shot into the bushes and an exquisite shot off the muddied cart path. But he hit the pin on the uphill ninth hole for birdie and hit an amazing wedge from the cabbage left of the 17th green for a tap-in birdie. He closed with a bogey from the rain-soaked rough on the 18th for a 70 and was three behind 'I'm well aware that I've got a chance tomorrow, and if I shoot a low round of golf tomorrow then anything can happen,' Hovland said. 'But there's a lot of good players around me. Adam Scott played a brilliant round today, just didn't really miss a shot. That forces me to play some really good golf tomorrow.' Carlos Ortiz turned in one of the most remarkable performances by going bogey-free for 30 consecutive holes. The streak ended on the 18th, but the Mexican still had a 67 and was very much in range at even-par 210. Missing from the mix was Scottie Scheffler, the world's No. 1 player who had won three of his last four tournaments coming into the U.S. Open. Scheffler never found any momentum, with one critical stretch coming right before the turn. After holing a 20-foot birdie putt on the sixth, Scheffler saved par after driving into the rough on No. 7 and hitting wedge to 3 feet. But then what looked like a tap-in par on the long par-3 eighth turned into a shocking miss. He wound up with a 70, moving him from a tie for 23rd to just outside the top 10. But he was eight shots behind Burns, his best friend on tour with whom he shares a house at the majors. 'I put myself in this position,' Scheffler said. 'It's not the position I want to be in, but I've done a good job of hanging in there and staying in the tournament.' The best news for this U.S. Open was that it finished the third round without weather getting in the way. Oakmont received an inch of rain from when played ended on Friday evening. The USGA offered to refund tickets to spectators who didn't want to traipse through the muck. Divots taken from the fairways looked like pelts, and the greens were noticeable softer and more receptive. There was one spell midway through the round when umbrellas were out and the sun was shining. Everyone plodded along, trying desperately to avoid rough that hasn't been cut and greens that never seem to lose their speed. Burns, a 28-year-old from from Louisiana, had the look of someone determined to add his list to young Americans ready to capture a major. He took a most unusual route on the tough third hole with a drive well to the left, over the church pew bunkers and into the adjacent fourth fairway, allowing him to avoid a blind shot. He picked up birdies with a wedge from the fairway to a back pin on No. 5 and a tee shot to 7 feet on the accessible par-3 13th. Equally important were the three times he saved par from the fairway after getting out of position off the tee Then came the closing stretch. He clipped a wedge that raced toward a back pin and checked up a foot away on the short par-4 17th. And he caught a break on the 18th when his drive into the rough caught a good lie, a rarity at Oakmont, allowing him to reach the back of the green nearly 60 feet away. He gently rolled the putt down to 4 feet for one last par and the lead. ___
Fox Sports
11 minutes ago
- Fox Sports
Sam Burns holds steady on soggy Oakmont to lead US Open
Associated Press OAKMONT, Pa. (AP) — Sam Burns only wobbled twice on a soggy Oakmont course Saturday and held his nerve with a great lag from just inside 60 feet on the final hole for a 1-under 69, leaving him one round away from a U.S. Open title and no margin for error. Burns, who has never contended in his 20 previous majors, next takes on the Sunday pressure of golf's most stringent test alongside Adam Scott, the 44-year-old Australian and the only player among the top 10 with experience winning a major. Scott, whose lone major was 12 years ago at the Masters, didn't make a mistake since a soft bogey on the opening hole and looked far younger than his 44 years down the stretch with brilliant iron play and enough putts for a 67, leaving him one shot behind. This was shaping up to be a wild chase to the finish, with only four players under par. That starts with Burns at 4-under 206. He has five PGA Tour titles, the last one more than two years ago. He is coming off a playoff loss last week in the Canadian Open. J.J. Spaun, who lost in a playoff at The Players Championship in March, kept pace with Burns throughout the back nine until the end, when he couldn't save par from a bunker and shot 69. He joined Scott a shot behind. 'It seemed like we were kind of back and forth,' Spaun said. 'He would take the lead, I would take the lead, I would fall back, whatever. But it was fun. You can't really play against your opponent; you got to play this course. There's just so much on demand with every shot.' The other survivor to par was Viktor Hovland, who has been smiling as much as anyone on a course that has been exasperating to so many all week. Hovland salvaged a bogey from an opening tee shot into the bushes and an exquisite shot off the muddied cart path. But he hit the pin on the uphill ninth hole for birdie and hit an amazing wedge from the cabbage left of the 17th green for a tap-in birdie. He closed with a bogey from the rain-soaked rough on the 18th for a 70 and was three behind 'I'm well aware that I've got a chance tomorrow, and if I shoot a low round of golf tomorrow then anything can happen,' Hovland said. 'But there's a lot of good players around me. Adam Scott played a brilliant round today, just didn't really miss a shot. That forces me to play some really good golf tomorrow.' Carlos Ortiz turned in one of the most remarkable performances by going bogey-free for 30 consecutive holes. The streak ended on the 18th, but the Mexican still had a 67 and was very much in range at even-par 210. Missing from the mix was Scottie Scheffler, the world's No. 1 player who had won three of his last four tournaments coming into the U.S. Open. Scheffler never found any momentum, with one critical stretch coming right before the turn. After holing a 20-foot birdie putt on the sixth, Scheffler saved par after driving into the rough on No. 7 and hitting wedge to 3 feet. But then what looked like a tap-in par on the long par-3 eighth turned into a shocking miss. He wound up with a 70, moving him from a tie for 23rd to just outside the top 10. But he was eight shots behind Burns, his best friend on tour with whom he shares a house at the majors. 'I put myself in this position,' Scheffler said. 'It's not the position I want to be in, but I've done a good job of hanging in there and staying in the tournament.' The best news for this U.S. Open was that it finished the third round without weather getting in the way. Oakmont received an inch of rain from when played ended on Friday evening. The USGA offered to refund tickets to spectators who didn't want to traipse through the muck. Divots taken from the fairways looked like pelts, and the greens were noticeable softer and more receptive. There was one spell midway through the round when umbrellas were out and the sun was shining. Everyone plodded along, trying desperately to avoid rough that hasn't been cut and greens that never seem to lose their speed. Burns, a 28-year-old from from Louisiana, had the look of someone determined to add his list to young Americans ready to capture a major. He took a most unusual route on the tough third hole with a drive well to the left, over the church pew bunkers and into the adjacent fourth fairway, allowing him to avoid a blind shot. He picked up birdies with a wedge from the fairway to a back pin on No. 5 and a tee shot to 7 feet on the accessible par-3 13th. Equally important were the three times he saved par from the fairway after getting out of position off the tee Then came the closing stretch. He clipped a wedge that raced toward a back pin and checked up a foot away on the short par-4 17th. And he caught a break on the 18th when his drive into the rough caught a good lie, a rarity at Oakmont, allowing him to reach the back of the green nearly 60 feet away. He gently rolled the putt down to 4 feet for one last par and the lead. ___ AP golf: recommended
