The eight players from Serie B side Monza, including Kevin-Prince Boateng, apologised for breaking COVID rules by visiting a casino in Switzerland.
Monza is close to the Swiss border and a group of eight players made a day trip over to gamble at the casino in Lugano.
They were initially told to self-isolate after the club became aware of their actions, then when they were given the all-clear to play this weekend against Salernitana, Monza dropped them anyway as punishment.
The eight players from Serie B side Monza, including Kevin-Prince Boateng, apologised for breaking COVID rules by visiting a casino in Switzerland.
Monza is close to the Swiss border and a group of eight players made a day trip over to gamble at the casino in Lugano.
They were initially told to self-isolate after the club became aware of their actions, then when they were given the all-clear to play this weekend against Salernitana, Monza dropped them anyway as punishment.
The eight players – Armando Anastasio, Marco Armellino, Antonino Barillà, Giuseppe Bellusci, Davide Bettella, Kevin-Prince Boateng, Giulio Donati and Christian Gytkjaer – wrote an open letter of apology to the club and fans.
“It was meant to be a bit of fun. We honestly didn’t think that we were doing anything to damage the fans, the club, the staff or our teammates.
“Unfortunately, all of us under-estimated the implications, otherwise we’d without doubt have taken other options into consideration to spend our afternoon off.”
Monza are owned by former Milan patron Silvio Berlusconi, with Adriano Galliani as their CEO.