Nicolo Fagioli has revealed his ordeal at the hands of unauthorized betting platforms, to whom he owed a certain sum of money.
The suspended Juventus midfielder gave an exposé, sharing the reason why he burst into tears in the Bianconeri’s league clash with Sassuolo in April 2023, as it was due to his “gambling debts”.
Nicolo Fagioli suspended for betting
Fagiolo was recently suspended from football for seven months by the Italian Football Federation for his involvement in gambling activities.
The 22-year-old will be given adequate treatment and support, to help him get over his gambling addictions.
Nicolo Fagioli established that his debts kept piling up with each passing day, and he was only betting to “break-even”.
The Italian midfielder grew through the cadet sides at Juventus, before earning his first-team debut on January 27, 2021, aged 19 years, 11 months, and 15 days.
Fagioli’s career is apparently on the rise and it won’t be soothing to witness another career blighted due to betting addictions.
Via the documents taken by Tuttosport and La Gazzetta dello Sport, the midfielder said:
“I was crying against Sassuolo not because of the mistake on the pitch, but mainly because of my gambling debts.”
In April 2023, Nicolo Fagioli made a costly error which resulted in Sassuolo’s decisive goal in their 1-0 victory over Juventus.
He also added that he found it hard to sleep at night due to mounting debts, Fagioli said:
“At night I couldn’t sleep. The more time passed, the more the debts haunted me. My debts kept increasing and I was gambling just to try to break even.
“They told me: ‘We’ll break your legs.’ I had so much debt that even if I had won, I would get nothing out of it.”
Nicolo Fagioli at Juventus in the 2023/24 season
Nicolo Fagioli has made 6 appearances for Juventus this season, scoring no goal and providing 1 assist in the Serie A this campaign.
The Italy International also revealed that he never placed a bet on either Juventus or Cremonese – the two clubs he has played for in his career.
“I gambled on national and international matches but never on Cremonese or Juventus”, he said.
Fagiolo debts from betting is how much?
Nicolo Fagioli also shared the amounts of debts he had amassed as of September 2022, totaling about a quarter of a million.
He wrote: “I had accumulated a debt of €250,000 in September 2022 and pressure from managers of illegal platforms started”.
The 22-year-old will likely return to competitive footballing action at the dying embers of the 2023/24 season or possibly the 2024/25 season.
Cumulatively, Fagioli has made 45 appearances for Juventus, scoring 3 goals and providing 6 assists in the process.
Nicolo Fagioli has in the past been courted by some top clubs in Europe, including; Manchester United, Chelsea, and Barcelona.
