Referee who initiated Tonali to gambling suspended | OneFootball

Pietro Marinoni, a Serie D referee who allegedly initiated Sandro Tonali to illegal online gambling, has been precautionarily suspended by AIA.

La Gazzetta dello Sport reports that Italian referee Marinoni has been suspended by AIA (the Association of Italian referees) after the Milan Prosecutor started a new investigation over illegal online betting, involving 12 current and former Serie A players.

Marinoni is a referee in Serie D, Italy’s fourth division, and comes from the same city as Tonali.

“The person who initiated me to gambling is Pietro Marinoni, who comes from the same city as me and went to school with my sister. He was a referee,” Tonali told Italian authorities in 2023 (via Calciomercato.com).

“I was never threatened, but I was offered to pay off the debt in installments. I reached a debt of €500,000 with them. Their objective was to make me continue to gamble, but they never pushed for any payment.”

According to the prosecutors, football players used to call Marinoni to place bets, so he had a central role in the organisation.

As reported by Gazzetta, Marinoni owns a Porsche Macan despite formally earning just €7,000 per year.

As is widely known, Tonali and Fagioli gambled on football games, for which they have already paid with hefty fines and bans.

There’s currently no evidence that other players involved in the new investigation ever placed bets on football games.

The FIGC Prosecutor will receive documents from authorities in Milan looking for possible wrongdoings in sporting terms, but if none of the players have gambled on football games, then there is no risk of any suspension.

In criminal terms, the highest possible punishment for those involved is a €250 fine.