SANDRO Tonali will be free to make his Newcastle United return at the end of August after learning his punishment for his betting breaches after joining the Magpies last summer.

Tonali has been handed a suspended two-month ban and fined £20,000 for breaching Football Association betting regulations.

The 23-year-old Italy international, who is currently serving a 10-month suspension imposed by the Italian Football Federation for similar offences, admitted 50 breaches of FA Rule E8 for placing bets on football matches between August 12 2023 and October 12 2023, the early stages of his career on Tyneside.

His new ban is suspended for the entirety of next season, meaning the midfielder will be free to return to action for the Magpies on August 27.

Newcastle say Tonali's co-operation has been "extraordinary and unprecedented" and the midfielder is following a "therapeutic plan and educational programme with the club’s full support".

An independent regulatory commission found he had wagered “well in excess of 100,000 euros” – or £85,636 – on 50 bets, none exceeding 10,000 euros (£8,560) and four of them on the Magpies to win games in which he was part of the squad.

In its written reasons, the commission rejected calls for a non-sporting sanction on the grounds that under FA guidelines, had those offences been committed in England, the sanction would not have exceeded six months and he has already served five.

It was also revealed the player, who it was claimed had not fully understood the FA training he had received shortly after his arrival at Newcastle because of his poor command of English at the time, had voluntarily taken a substantial cut in wages in the wake of the original suspension.

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An FA spokesperson said: “An independent Regulatory Commission has sanctioned Newcastle United’s Sandro Tonali for misconduct in relation to The FA’s Betting Rules.

“The FA charged the midfielder with 50 breaches of FA Rule E8 for placing bets on football matches between 12 August 2023 and 12 October 2023, and he admitted to this.

“The independent Regulatory Commission imposed a two-month suspension from all football and football-related activity, which is suspended until the end of the 2024/25 season pending any further breaches of The FA’s Betting Rules, as well as a £20,000 fine and warning."

Acknowledging the sanction, a Newcastle statement said: “The banning period is fully suspended for the duration of the 2024/25 season, meaning he will be available to return to competitive football upon the conclusion of an existing 10-month sanction imposed by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) on 27 October 2023.

“Provided that he does not commit any further breach of the FA Betting Rules during the suspension period, Sandro will not serve any part of the two-month sanction.

“As acknowledged by the FA in the independent Regulatory Commission’s written reasons, the level of assistance Sandro has provided by self-referring and fully cooperating with a subsequent investigation is extraordinary and unprecedented.

“Sandro made full admissions as to his betting activity, and did so in circumstances where there was no other evidence to support misconduct proceedings.

“Sandro is continuing to follow a therapeutic plan and educational programme with the club’s full support and will continue to train with his team-mates.”

After news of the FA sanction broke earlier this year, Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe said: "He has suffered during this period and he has sought help.

"The news that there was an FA charge - that illness didn't stop when he moved from Italy to England.

"That illness was there and people should look at it that way, not 'let's throw the book at him and punish him even further' because I don't think that gets to the root of the problem."