Italian investigators will reportedly examine the emails, laptop and mobile phone of a lawyer hired by Juventus amid claims she promised to have potential signings take their Italian citizenship test at the University for Foreigners of Perugia in future if they allowed Luis Suarez to pass.
Italian police are investigating claims that the former Liverpool star cheated in his citizenship test in a bid to speed up his now collapsed to Juventus.
Phone calls between Maria Turco, a lawyer hired by the Serie A champions, and an official at the University for Foreigners of Perugia allegedly contain them negotiating over passing the Uruguayan striker.
Luis Suarez arrived in Perugia last week to take an Italian test ahead of a potential move to Juve
It has now been claimed that Suarez cheated in the test in order to speed up his move to Italy
A move to Juve has now fallen through with Suarez expected to join Atletico Madrid but he flew to Perugia last week and passed a dual citizenship test in case terms were agreed with Juventus.
But while he doesn’t appear to be moving to Italy, Suarez could find himself in hot water after claims by Repubblica and Ansa earlier this week that there were ‘irregularities’ in the test.
Now, a report by Corrierre della Sella claims there were three phone calls between Turco, who works with Juve’s lawyer Luigi Chiappero, and the director general of the university, Simone Olivieri.
It is claimed they discussed how Suarez could pass his test and what the university would get in return on phone calls monitored by Guardia di Finanza.
Turco allegedly claims they would send more non-EU players needing to pass the citizenship test to the University for Foreigners of Perugia moving forward but only if Suarez passes the test seamlessly.
But Repubblica claim the alleged guarantees from Turco have not yet been deemed as sufficient evidence to bring charges of ‘pressure or corruption’, meaning neither her nor Juventus officials are on a list of suspects.
But it is reported that investigators want to examine Turco’s computer, mobile phone and e-mail accounts to reconstruct the lawyer’s role in the probe.
It is even claimed the university allowed Suarez to take the test early, on September 17 rather than September 22.
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The test was also reportedly ‘tailor-made’ to benefit Suarez and they made four other foreigners takes the test on September 17 with Suarez, instead of September 22.
It has been reported that Suarez was sent the questions in advance and passed the Italian language (B1 level) exam having already been told the answers.
Repubblica carried quotes from an official on Monday, who said: ‘He does not speak a word of Italian. He does not conjugate verbs, he only speaks using the infinitive. If journalists would ask him some questions, he’d be lost. He earns €10million (£9.1m) a year, he needs to pass this exam.’
It is also claimed Perugia police officials were ‘monitoring the university to try and prove Suarez’s questions had been previously agreed’ and that he had been ‘prepared on the answers’.
The police are now said to be acquiring documentation from the University for Foreigners of Perugia and the player risks heavy legal action by the Public Prosecutor of Perugia.
In a statement from the Prosecutor, it was explained: ‘During the investigations delegated since February 2020 to the Economic and Financial Police Unit of the Guardia di Finanza of Perugia, irregularities in the test of certification of the Italian language, carried out on 17 September last, by the Uruguayan footballer Luis Alberto Suarez Diaz.
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‘From the investigative activities it was found that the exam topics were previously agreed with the candidate and that the relative score was attributed even before the oral test was carried out, although it was found during the distance lessons held by the University teachers an elementary knowledge of the Italian language.
‘Today, the soldiers of the Guardia di Finanza are proceeding with documentary acquisitions at the University offices as well as the notification of guarantee information for the crimes of disclosure of office secrets, ideological falsehood committed by the public official in public acts.’
The president of the Italian FA, Gabriele Gravina, told Sky Sports Italia: ‘I think we are exaggerating on this matter, let’s let the federal prosecutor work.
‘It is a person who came to Italy to complete his studies.’
Suarez, meanwhile, is now not set to join Juventus anyway after they secured the return of Alvaro Morata on loan from Atletico Madrid.
That deal has paved the way for Suarez to join Atletico Madrid instead, effectively rendering his Italian test pointless.
That said, it has been reported that even his move across Spain will not be plain sailing, with Barcelona attempting to put a stop to the move.
Onda Cero report that Barca want to add Atletico Madrid to a list of ‘vetoed teams’ that Suarez can’t join when they finally agree to cancel his Nou Camp contract.
