Newcastle announce Sandro Tonali's official return date after 10-month ban for betting
Newcastle have announced Sandro Tonali's official return date from his betting ban after confusion over his availability.
The Italian midfielder was banned for 10 months in October for breaches of betting rules relating to matches in Italy.
He was then handed a suspended two-month ban after he admitted to breaches of the FA's betting rules in May.
Tonali therefore missed the rest of the Premier League campaign last season, and will not available at the beginning of the current campaign.
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There was the belief that he would be available from August 27 - now the date of Newcastle's Carabao Cup clash against Nottingham Forest.
Others, however, indicated that Tonali would only be able to play from August 29, as that was 10 months on from the date his ban was officially ratified by the FA.
Newcastle have now confirmed that neither date is correct - and that Tonali will be free to play from August 28 instead.
That means his first game back in a Magpies shirt will be the September 1 visit of Tottenham Hotspur to St James' Park - should he be fully fit to play.
The Italian, of course, has not played any game for Newcastle throughout his 10-month ban, as not being available for pre-season friendlies was also part of his original suspension.
He has been in training, though, and travelled with the Magpies during pre-season.
Tonali has kept a low profile throughout his ban - but manager Eddie Howe revealed that the midfielder himself put forward the idea of a voluntary paycut, which the club accepted.
Howe explained in May: "It was something that he wanted to do. He felt the guilt.
"He felt that joining a new club, it was something he wanted to show the club in good faith, that he was sorry and determined to put it behind him and try to learn from it.
"They are all really good signs for the future, that we have got a very good human being in the football club. Someone who is keen to show all the good he can do for Newcastle United."
Topics: Newcastle United, Football, Premier League
Ryan Smart