‘No need’: Paolo Di Canio aimed a tirade at ‘stupid’ Newcastle player on Italian TV this weekend

Former Sunderland boss Paolo Di Canio has had his say on the Italian betting scandal and it's less than sympathetic.

While it's fair to say that Sandro Tonali et al. have let the game down with their illegal betting antics, some sympathy does still need to be reserved for those, like Tonali, who have a problem with gambling.

Paul Merson delivered an impassioned plea for leniency on Sky Sports News on Saturday using his own experiences to make the point. Of his three addiction problems, drinking, drugs and gambling, Merson said that it was the latter that was the hardest to beat and remains the hardest to stay on top of.

Paul Merson opted for compassion towards Tonali

If you think about it, that makes perfect sense. Gambling involves no middle-man, no other human interaction that could make you think 'Hang on, if they tell someone I'm busted'. You just have to pick up your phone and in a few taps, you're away.

Then there's former West Ham striker Paolo Di Canio who is so self-absorbed, so high and mighty that at the weekend he demanded that a camera hold on his face while he talked down it to deliver a scathing attack on those players caught up in the same betting scandal as Newcastle's Tonali (quotes via Calciomercato).

"Give me a fixed camera. You are idiots! If you bet on football you're empty, you're stupid. There's no need to justify those who bet!"

Tonali will have to pay for what he's done but Di Canio's not helping

Again, we're not saying that Tonali is an angel and that what he's done isn't stupid, but that's hardly the right attitude to have when someone is suffering from addiction, which evidence suggests Tonali genuinely is.

However, is the former Sunderland boss the right person to be speaking out about a person's choices? He's not exactly a paragon of virtue with his history of getting into trouble and attracting headlines for the wrong reasons.