(ANSA) – NAPLES, MARCH 02 – A flurry of acquittals for the big names in Italian football on allegations of tax irregularities in the ‘Out of Play’ trial. The seventh criminal section of the court of Naples has acquitted all the accused presidents or former presidents: Aurelio De Laurentiis, Claudio Lotito, Adriano Galliani, Andrea Della Valle and Luca Campedelli. The footballer Ezequiel Lavezzi was also acquitted. The only sentence for Alessandro Moggi: one year, suspended sentence, for not having accounted for an invoice relating to a consultancy for the sale of Lavezzi.
The sentence comes seven years after the opening of an investigation caused a sensation in the world of football. In January 2016, the prosecutors of the Naples public prosecutor pointed the finger at “a deep-rooted system” for evading taxes created, according to the indictment, by 35 A and B clubs and about a hundred managers, players and sports agents . The alleged offenses would have been linked to market transactions, through a system which on the one hand would have stolen money from the state coffers and on the other favored clubs, players and above all their agents. A theorem denied by today’s sentence: Alessandro Moggi himself was convicted of only one of the charges, linked to the sale of Lavezzi for a consultancy provided in the transfer of Pocho from Naples to Paris Saint Germain. His lawyers are ready to appeal.
“I’m super calm, it’s all fluff”, commented the president of Napoli Aurelio De Laurentiis on the day of the news of the maxi investigation. (HANDLE).
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