Morata was dragged into a betting ring

Morata and Fagioli were once teammates at Juventus.

Nicolo Fagioli is caught up in the biggest betting scandal in Italian football in recent years. When the authorities uncovered the case, Fagioli was accused of exploiting the name of his former teammate Alvaro Morata in a business deal.

According to La Gazzetta dello Sport , Fagioli told friends that he was trading Rolex watches with Morata to earn money to pay off gambling debts. In a series of text messages recovered from Fagioli's phone by police investigators, the midfielder persuaded friends and colleagues to lend him money, under the pretext of investing in luxury watches.

One of the notable messages recorded Fagioli saying: "The Rolexes were bought by Alvaro Morata for me at a cheap price. He also resold them. I have been doing business with him for a year now."

Fagioli claimed it was a quick way to pay off gambling debts, and stressed to lenders that Morata was a trusted partner. However, Morata was not under investigation, and there is no evidence that he was actually involved.

"In a desperate situation and threatened by gambling bosses, Fagioli had to borrow money from friends and teammates and used Morata's name to gain trust. However, there is no evidence that Fagioli actually cooperated with Morata, or it was just a trick to lure others to lend him money," said La Gazzetta dello Sport .

Fagioli was once in debt of nearly 3 million euros, leading to falling under the control of betting "bosses".

Another recording revealed Fagioli's fear if Morata discovered he was abusing his name: "Please don't tell anyone, if Alvaro knows I did it or tells anyone else, he will be angry and won't let me continue."

The above statement was sent by Fagioli to Gianmaria Zanandrea - a close friend who used to play with him in the Juventus youth team, thereby clearly showing that he deliberately hid and took advantage of Morata's name to achieve personal goals.

Fagioli is currently under investigation by the Milan Prosecutor's Office, along with around 12 other players, including names like Leandro Paredes, Angel Di Maria and Junior Firpo. The whole thing stems from the data mining of Fagioli and Sandro Tonali's phones.

According to Repubblica , Fagioli was once in debt of nearly 3 million euros, leading to falling under the control of the "bosses" of betting. He was forced to play the role of attracting other players to join the network to pay off the debt and save his life.

Morata, despite being mentioned by Fagioli several times in text messages and recordings, has not been formally investigated. So far, the Spanish striker has remained silent.

The Fagioli scandal exposed the dark side behind the pitch, when young players are easily drawn into temptation, debt and manipulation. "For Morata, although not under investigation, this incident has caused him to be caught up in unwanted scandal," wrote Marca .

Source: https://znews.vn/morata-bi-loi-vao-duong-day-ca-do-post1545877.html