Betting, which can sometimes be in relation to match fixing in soccer, has recently become a growing epidemic. It could have a negative impact on not only the player, but the entire team. It can result in players banned for months, years, or even for life. If teams are found to be involved with this, it could lead to points getting deducted, trophies getting striped away, or the implementation of more regulations, which all depend on the severity.
This has happened before, starting with the Totonero incident in Italy, in 1980, where everyone involved was arrested. The teams of AC Milan and Lazio got put under tighter regulations, and the president of Milan, Felice Colombo, was banned for life. In addition, several players were handed suspensions.
However, this isn’t the only betting scandal that happened in Italy, in 2006, the Calciopoli incident happened. During the end of the 05-06 season, multiple teams were caught bribing the referees, but Juventus were the ones who were caught doing it the most. They had also bribed refs from other matches before that team would face them, which started in the 04-05 season. This too, resulted in their 04-05 and 05–06 titles getting stripped away, and getting more regulation put in place.
Ever since then, nothing related to bribery has happened, that is, until recently. Premier League player, Ivan Toney, got banned at the end of the 22-23 season until January 2024 for breaking betting rules. He was charged with 262 breaches, but only admitted to 232 of the charges. Later in September 2023, Brazilian players, Ygor Catatau, Matheus Gomes, and Gabriel Tota were banned for life due to their involvement in a match fixing scandal related to sports betting. Eight other players who were in this scandal got suspensions of 360 and 720 days.
But that wasn’t the last time a betting related scandal would happen this year. Premier League star players, Sandro Tonali, and Nicolo Zaniolo, were charged, along with international teammate Nicolo Fagioli, for illegal betting. So far, it looks like the players would all be banned for a few months if not for the rest of the season as Nicolo Fagioli has already been banned for 7 months. Tonali is expected to get a 10-month ban, which would mean the termination of his upcoming season, while Zaniolo is expected to only receive a fine.
As you can see, betting scandals in soccer have been around for a while, but it has definitely regained popularity during the 2023 season. This is not only harmful for their careers, but risks the dangerous possibility of a heightening addiction to gambling and betting.
