Paredes and Di Maria deny any involvement in illegal gambling: ‘Never’ | OneFootball

Roma midfielder and former Juventus star Angel Di Maria have denied that they were ever involved in any form of illegal gambling after reports on Friday confirmed that they were under investigation by prosecutors in Italy.

On Friday, it was confirmed that 12 players remain under investigation as part of an inquiry into alleged illegal online betting activity. Prosecutors began investigation prior to the lengthy bans handed to Sandro Tonali and Nicolo Fagioli in 2023.

Those two players were found to have gambled on illegal platforms, with Tonali admitting to betting on football, and in some circumstances, on games he was involved in.

There is no evidence to suggest that any of the other players named in the investigation bet on sport of any kind.

Sandro Tonali of Newcastle United on the ball during the Premier League match between Newcastle United FC and Leicester City FC at St James’ Park on December 14, 2024 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)

As well as Tonali and Fagioli, reports confirmed that Di Maria, Paredes, Milan’s Alessandro Florenzi, Nicolo Zaniolo of Fiorentina, Juventus players Weston McKennie and Mattia Perin, Atalanta’s Raoul Bellanova, Torino’s Samuele Ricci, Parma’s Matteo Cancellieri, Padova’s Cristian Buonaiuto and Leeds United’s Junior Firpo were also under investigation.

Their names came up in interviews with Tonali and Fagioli at the beginning of the investigation, but there is no evidence to suggest that any of them bet on football.

Paredes and Di Maria deny any involvement in illegal betting

Di Maria and Paredes have both come out with statements on their social media profiles denying that they have ever made any type of illegal bet.

“With the press reports, I want to clarify that I have never made any illegal bets of any kind,” Di Maria wrote in a story on his Instagram profile.

Paredes, meanwhile, denied that he has ever bet online – on anything – legal or illegal: “With regard to what has been spread by some press outlets, I intend to clarify that I have never made bets of any kind,” he wrote.