Newcastle have confirmed that Sandro Tonali has been charged with misconduct by the FA for allegedly breaching betting rules.
talkSPORT revealed in November the Italian was being investigated by the FA for offences separate from those committed in Italy that resulted in his ten-month worldwide ban.
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Tonali, a £55million signing from AC Milan last summer, is now accused of breaking betting rules 50 times between August 12 and October 12, following his move to St James' Park.
The midfielder is believed to be cooperating with the FA amid fears he could face further sanctions.
Tonali has been given until Friday, April 5 to respond to the charge.
An FA statement read: "Sandro Tonali has been charged with misconduct in relation to alleged breaches of The FA’s Betting Rules.
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"It’s alleged that the Newcastle United midfielder breached FA Rule E8 50 times by placing bets on football matches between 12 August 2023 and 12 October 2023."
Tonali made 12 appearances for Newcastle - the last of which came in the 1-0 Champions League defeat to Borussia Dortmund on October 25.
His initial ban from the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) was related to placing bets on matches he featured in during his time in Serie A.
It meant that Tonali was instantly sidelined for the remainder of the 2023/24 season and he will also miss Euro 2024 with Italy.
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His lengthy suspension was due to expire on August 27, 2024, but Newcastle must now wait to see if further FA punishment follows.
In a statement, the Magpies said: "Newcastle United acknowledges a misconduct charge received by Sandro Tonali in respect of alleged breaches of FA Betting Rules.
"Sandro continues to fully comply with relevant investigations and he retains the club's full support.
"Due to this ongoing process, Sandro and Newcastle United are unable to offer further comment at this time."
Tonali has been training with Newcastle during his ban, with Eddie Howe recently claiming to have seen improvements in his game.
Asked about the Italy international last month, Toon boss Howe said: "We have spent time with him identifying areas of his game that we want to improve.
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"He's got a lot of time to do that so we have spent a lot of time with him doing that. That naturally engages your brain into what you're doing.
"If we had not done that and it was just random training for him that was not specialised, that's when he could potentially drift mentally.
"I have to say he has been very good in supporting his teammates and very good in making the training sessions better for everybody. I've definitely seen an improvement in his game despite the fact he is not playing.
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"That can sometimes be very difficult to improve your game without getting the match stimulus you need, but he has played in training games and bigger pitch stuff.
"It's important that we do that for him so athletically he does not suffer."