Prosecutors call for suspension for Spurs director Paratici
Tottenham director Fabio Paratici faces a 16-month football suspension as prosecutors reveal sentences they are seeking in Italian capital gains fraud trial with Juventus and Napoli owners Andrea Agnelli and Aurelio De Laurentiis also under investigation
- Clubs across Italian football are facing punishments from the football federation
- Sides are accused of artificially inflating transfer fees for player exchanges
- Juventus and Napoli are among 11 clubs who are under investigation
- Prosecutors are calling for Fabio Paratici to be handed a 16-month suspension
- Andrea Agnelli and Aurelio De Laurentiis could also be dished out suspensions
Tottenham’s sporting director Fabio Paratici is facing a potential 16-month suspension from football as part of a capital gains fraud trial.
The trial into inflated transfer fees and capital gains in Italian football began on Tuesday morning with eleven clubs, including Juventus and Napoli under investigation.
These clubs were accused of artificially inflating transfer fees for player exchanges, therefore making it seem as if they were moving more valuable assets and balancing the books.
Tottenham’s sporting director Fabio Paratici is facing a potential 16-ban in connection with Italian football’s capital gains fraud trial which involves eleven sides across the country
Clubs including Juventus have been accused of artificially inflating their transfer fees
Paratici is one of a number of past and present executives at Juventus who are facing potential punishment.
As reported by Gazette dello Sport, prosecutors for the Italian Football Federation want ‘heavy disqualifications’ for the management at Juventus, including the issuing of an €800,000 (£667,000) fine to the club.
It’s said that Paratici signed 32 contracts with inflated monetary values and that prosecutors have requested for him to receive a 16-month suspension and ten days of inhibition.
They are also calling for a one year ban for chairman Andrea Agnelli, eight months for vice-president Pavel Nedved and CEO Maurizio Arrivabene, and six months for sporting director Federico Cherubini.
Juventus president Andrea Agnelli could be handed a one year suspension from football
Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis is also facing a potential suspension from football
Prosecutors have also requested for an 11 month ban for Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis, with a €329,000 (£274,000) fine for the club.
Other Serie A sides involved in the trial are Sampdoria, Genoa and Empoli. While Parma, Pisa, Pro Vercelli, Pescara, Chievo and Novara are also involved.
It is widely reported the Serie A sides at most will face a fine, whereas Parma and Pisa could have more problems in Serie B as they face potential points deductions.
Chievo and Novara though were already declared bankrupt last summer and no longer exist.
Serie A clubs including Juventus and Napoli could be hit with fines if found guilty
The trial will continue on Thursday and Friday with sentences expected sometime after Easter.
It was previously reported by Sportsmail that Tottenham were dragged into the fraud allegations with Juventus, with Italian police investigating the transfer history of summer signing Cristian Romero and the role of Paratici.
Sportsmail was told in November that the £47million deal for the Argentine defender in August — the same day he left Juventus for Atalanta for just £13.5m — was one of 42 transfers being scrutinised by police amid claims of false accounting.
Juventus’ offices were raided by police in November with player contracts, invoices and financial statements taken as evidence following claims that Juventus falsely recorded the values of transfers between 2019 and 2021 to enable them to comply with Financial Fair Play regulations.
Paratici was directly involved in the deal that brought Romero to Tottenham, continuing a close association with a player he signed for Juventus from Genoa two and a half years ago.
The 23-year-old never played for Juventus in two years at the club, but his transfer valuations attracted attention from the Italian police.
Tottenham’s transfer of Cristian Romero was among transfers investigated by authorities
Juventus paid Genoa £22m for Romero in July 2019, but immediately sent him back on loan for the season.
He spent the following campaign at Atalanta, who paid a £3.4m loan fee.
On a bizarre day last August, Atalanta confirmed they had signed Romero permanently for £13.5m before sending him out on loan to Tottenham, who also secured the option to buy him for £47m.
The sums involved raised eyebrows, with Atalanta set to make a profit of £33.5m in a single season.
Other Juventus deals that were probed include Manchester City’s £27.4m signing of Joao Cancelo two years ago in a transfer that saw Danilo move the other way in part-exchange, as well as another swap deal that saw Bosnia midfielder Miralem Pjanic join Barcelona with Brazilian midfielder Arthur Melo moving to Juventus.
There was no suggestion of any wrongdoing by the Premier League club.
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