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The Journey of Nicolò Fagioli: Insights from Dr. Paolo Jarre who is helping him overcoming gambling addiction
Tuttosport recently interviewed Dr. Paolo Jarre, a psychotherapist who is helping Juventus midfielder Nicolò Fagioli recover from his gambling addiction.
Fagioli’s football-related suspension for his involvement in a betting scandal is set to end on May 19, with the possibility of returning to the team for their match against Monza on May 26. Below are some key insights from Dr. Jarre’s interview.
Fagioli’s Progress – “He regularly attends weekly meetings, follows all prescribed recommendations, and continues to participate in public testimony meetings. While his football suspension is almost over, my work with him is far from complete, as therapy requires a minimum of one year, and we started in October.”
Contact from Juventus – “No, it was Fagioli who contacted me directly. He had inquired about the possibilities in Piedmont, and they gave him my name. Initially, I worked with drug addiction, but with the rise of gambling, and the expansion of commercial offerings, I have focused on this problem.”
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Patient Type – “He appears to be outside the stereotype of a ‘spoiled’ footballer; he is a reflective and conscious person. However, there is no intelligence or sensitivity that protects against vulnerability to this type of addiction. It is somewhat unpredictable and based partly on genetics and partly on personal factors, but it is completely ‘interclassist.’ When someone asks for help, it is not that they are halfway through the journey, but they have made a good start: on gambling and alcohol, which are legal behaviors, it is very common for people to deny the problem.”
Risk of Relapse – “One can never say in the behaviors of addiction that they have reached healing: one can achieve stability, remission, but the vulnerability remains. Healing fragility is recognizing it, the nature cannot be changed: the cure is made in recognizing this fragility. No superhero attitudes or hiding the dust under the carpet are needed, but one must get used to ‘living with the door open.’ The desire to bet can reappear because I have to reward myself for something beautiful that I have done or I have to console myself for a negative circumstance that has happened to me. The risk factors for relapses are there, and a large part of clinical work is precisely the prevention of relapse.”
The Role of Football in His Life – “One of the fantasies he cultivates without deluding himself is that of the European Championships. We have recalled together the story of Paolo Rossi, suspended for two years for match-fixing, who had returned to playing at the end of May, as is happening to Nicolò. Then, Bearzot called him up for the World Cup, which Italy won, and he was the top scorer. An evocative example, even if the circumstances were different because Fagioli was not suspended for sporting misconduct, he never bet on his own team.”
Call from Spalletti – “It’s an incentive; it would be important if Spalletti took it into account from an educational point of view because it would send a strong message to other young people who have the same problem: if you take care of yourself, you achieve results even in your profession. Of course, Nicolò misses playing football, but even more, he misses the locker room before and after the game. If they had given him a month less of suspension, he would have had more time to try to get the call-up in blue.”
Impact of Reintegration – “The reintegration into the field is a delicate moment: there will be the pleasure of the game and successes, but it also entails the risk of forgetting, instead, he must remember every day not for a moral reason but to protect himself. The circle does not close: the suspension ends, but not the cure, Nicolò must see if he maintains the commitment to himself, he must work on that.”
