Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe has urged the Football Association not to "throw the book" at Sandro Tonali after charging him with 50 alleged breaches of betting regulations.
The 23-year-old Italy international, who is currently serving a 10-month ban after admitting gambling offences in his native country, was hit with fresh allegations by English football's governing body on Thursday.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference on Friday morning, 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.
"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."
