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Italian football faces tax evasion scandal

Xinhua, January 27, 2016 Adjust font size:

A total of 64 football managers, agents and players have been put under investigation in Italy in a large probe of suspected systematic tax evasion, local media reported.

Finance police searched a number of offices of Serie A and Serie B clubs early Tuesday and seized assets worth around 12 million euros (13.03 million U.S. dollars).

A total of 35 clubs and 100 people were allegedly involved in the tax evasion and false invoices system, related in particular to the buying and selling of footballers, leading sports newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport said.

Those under investigation included AC Milan CEO Adriano Galliani, Napoli chairman Aurelio De Laurentiis, AC Lazio President Claudio Lotito, former Juventus CEO Jean-Claude Blanc and agent Alessandro Moggi, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Among the investigated players there were Atalanta defensor on loan from AC Milan Gabriel Paletta, AC Milan midfielder Antonio Nocerino, Atalanta striker German Denis as well as former players in Italian teams including Ezequiel Lavezzi, Hernan Crespo, Adrian Mutu and Diego Milito, ANSA news agency said.

The probe was reportedly started in 2012 by prosecutors in Naples. In a statement released later on Tuesday, AC Milan denied any wrongdoing after its offices in Milan were searched in the operation.

In recent years the Italian football has been at the center of many scandals. The most noted one was the so-called "Calciopoli" match-fixing scam in 2006 which led Juventus to be stripped of two Serie A titles and demoted to the second tier.

Most of those involved, however, have been acquitted as their verdicts were declared timed out. Endit