After Alessandro Florenzi was called to the FIGC prosecutor’s office today, gossip columnist Fabrizio Corona claimed he has audio that proves Florenzi, Nicolò Zaniolo and four other players were gambling.
La Repubblica noted that this afternoon Milan full-back Florenzi was spotted visiting the office of Federation prosecutor Giuseppe Chinè to give further evidence in the gambling investigation.
At roughly the same time, gossip columnist Corona was sentenced to seven months in prison for resisting arrest and punching through the window of an ambulance that had been sent to help him in March 2021.
He already spent time in jail for blackmailing people, including football players and clubs, with photographs taken during his career as the so-called King of the Paparazzi.
Speaking to reporters outside the court room in Milan, Corona insisted his own investigation into illegal gambling in Italian football was not over.
“Yesterday I received an extraordinary audio recording that I will publish in around 10 days’ time with proof that Zaniolo and four other players are gambling. They are four different names to the ones I have already released.
“Among them is a certain ‘Ale Dubai’, which is the nickname used by Florenzi. This investigation is not over.”
Zaniolo has since left Roma and Galatasaray, so is on loan with Aston Villa.
Corona has been promising ‘evidence’ for weeks that did not emerge on his website, Dillinger News, and many of the players he named as participating in illegal gambling have instead taken legal action against him for defamation.
While it is against the rules for professional players to gamble even on games of chance, they are only likely to face bans if found to be betting on football matches.
Florenzi and Zaniolo have confessed to using apps to gamble on blackjack, roulette and poker, but not sporting events.