Sandro Tonali, former number AC Milan midfielder, is currently suspended until the end of August for illegally betting on football matches.
Yesterday, the 24-year-old Italian player was a guest at the Salvemini school in Bari to meet high school students in one of the meetings organised by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) as part of the path to recovery from gambling addiction.
According to what was reported by SportMediaset, Tonali began by saying:
"Maybe among you there is someone who bets and doesn't talk about it, because often we close ourselves off. But when you play and have a high salary, dealing with gambling is a risk around the corner. I hid it and I was wrong. You don't stop yourself, others stop you. And you can also compromise friendships, relationships, and work. These are some of the biggest risks."
Then Tonali continued:
"Hiding behind the barriers of a problem is never the solution. We should talk about it instead. Get help. My real wealth isn't the million-dollar contracts, but being surrounded by people who care about me and continue to show it to me every day."
Tonali concluded:
"Recently, I visited a factory, and I was able to reflect on how many people work ten hours a day just to bring home a salary. I understood many valuable things. One above all: if a worker were to lose their job, their whole family would suffer the consequences. Well, for this reason too, I consider myself lucky. I made mistakes, but I haven't lost anything."
