Howe urges FA not to inflict another betting suspension on Tonali

Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe has urged the Football Association not to "throw the book" at midfielder Sandro Tonali after charging him with further betting offences.

The 23-year-old, who is currently serving a ten-month worldwide ban imposed by the Italian Football Federation in October after he admitted breaking gambling rules, is alleged to have breached FA rule E8 50 times by betting on matches between August 12 and October 12 last year.

However, Howe, who has been without his £55 million summer signing from AC Milan since October, is hoping English football's governing body will not impose further stringent punishment on a player whose agent, Giuseppe Riso, has insisted is battling a "gambling addiction". Howe said: "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 let's punish him even further' because I don't think that gets to the root of the problem.”

Howe added: “We need to protect all our players because this is something that's open to everybody and becoming a bigger problem in society, so this isn't just a problem for Sandro.”

Asked if he was worried Tonali could be handed a consecutive ban to run after the existing penalty has come to an end, Howe added: "We don't know. I certainly hope for Sandro that there are no further consequences.

"I think the best thing for Sandro would be to resume his career having taken his punishment and having learned a lot of lessons from this."