Juventus player asked his teammates for money to face pressure from owners of illegal platforms
Nicolo Fagioli • Photo: Getty Images
Suspended for 7 months following the illegal betting scandal, Juventus midfielder Nicolò Fagioli told the Turin prosecutor’s office how he found himself immersed in a world that became an addiction and how the owners of illegal platforms even threatened to break his legs . The statement was published by ‘Gazzeta dello Sport’ this Wednesday.
“A football player, having a lot of free time, ends up experiencing the thrill of betting to combat boredom. But over time it becomes an obsession”, explained the 22-year-old footballer. “I started betting during the under-21 team training camp.”
Fagioni admitted that at first it was “fun”, but then the debts piled up, ending up finding himself “in a state of stress”. The worst period was “March-April 2023 (…), during Sassuolo-Juventus I made a technical error and was substituted. I cried on the bench, I thought about my betting debts.”
In September 2022, the player – who earns 1.8 million euros per year at the Bianconeri – already had 250 thousand euros in debt and was advised by his mother to seek help, but he didn’t do so because he always thought he could deal with the problem. “I bet compulsively in front of the TV on any sporting event I was watching, including football… even Serie B and Lega Pro.”
He made his first bets “on tennis events and then on football”. And he gave as an example Turin-Milan, played on October 30, 2022. “I bet on a draw or a win for Milan. I lost because it ended 2-1 for Torino.”
The debts grew and, under pressure from the owners of illegal betting shops, Fagioli ended up borrowing money from some companions, as his salary was not enough. “To the [Federico] Gatti asked for 40 thousand euros, told him that I needed to buy a watch and that my accounts had been blocked by my mother. O [Radu] Dragusin (who now plays for Genoa) also lent me 40 thousand euros.”
“I bought some valuable Rolexes in Milan, via bank transfer. Sometimes I delivered the watches myself, on other occasions the owners of the platforms came to collect them from the jewelry stores,” he added.
Debts grew. “Around 110 thousand euros to ‘betar.bet’ and ‘specialibet.bet’; around 1.5 million to the illegal platform ‘bullbet23.com’; around 1.3 million to another illegal platform (…); around of 31 thousand euros to an illegal bank…”
“I was increasing my debts and receiving physical threats. Like ‘I’ll break your legs’… I thought I was just playing to pay off debts…”, added Fagioli.
By Isabel Dantas
1
Leave your comment
2023-10-18 09:52:25
#Ill #break #legs #Fagioli #tells #sunk #millions #debts #betting #Juventus #Jornal #Record
