Sandro Tonali must wait until August 27 before he is allowed to feature in a behind-closed-doors friendly after the Italian Football Federation clarified their strict rule book.
The Italy midfielder - handed a 10-month FIFA ban for illegal gambling on Serie A games - can only play in private training games that aren't officiated by referees which was understood to be the case at Burnley earlier this week. And unlike Ivan Toney, who did play in a behind closed doors friendly before his similar betting ban was up, Tonali must wait until the end of August before he is allowed to safely play in a sanctioned match.
Toney's ban was issued by the English FA who allowed the Brentford striker to play in private friendly games behind closed doors with official match referees. But the officials at the FA's Wembley HQ, who Chronicle Live consulted this week said they must adhere to the rules set by their Italian counterparts.
READ MORE: Yankuba Minteh takes 15 minutes to make his point after Newcastle United sale
Remember Tonali was also handed an additional, suspended two month ban by the FA for 50 breaches of their rule book last year.
Tonali's next competitive game for Newcastle will be the Premier League game against Tottenham Hotspur on September 1 but the Magpies could set up a friendly game between the end of Tonali's ban on August 27 and the clash with the London side.
It means that the hard yards for Tonali must come on the training field as Newcastle look to get the £55million man back up and running for the 2024/25 season. A spokesman from the Italian Football Federation told Chronicle Live: "The player cannot participate in official activities including friendly matches which, if approved by the Federation, UEFA and/or FIFA, refereed by official referees and subject to sporting justice, are considered official activities."
Therefore, Tonali won't be involved at Hull City tomorrow, in the two games in Japan and in the Sela Cup to round of pre-season. Newcastle do have another practice session pencilled in with Leeds later in pre-season.
Speaking on Tonali's mood in pre-season, Eddie Howe said: "He does (feel like new signing). He's come back really fit and focused. You can see a change in his demeanour or but there is definitely a change in him in terms of feeling as he is closer to playing. It is very difficult when you have that stretch ahead of you and you are not going to play competitively for such a length of time."
2024-07-26T09:15:16Z dg43tfdfdgfd