Italian citizenship is at risk for Luis Suarez as there seems to have been a fraud in his language proficiency test.
An investigation from the Guardia di Finanza – the Italian Finance Police – uncovered that the topics for the Italian language test the Uruguayan international underwent last week were agreed upon in advance, and the score was assigned even before the actual test took place, despite Suarez having only a limited knowledge of Italian.
Passing a language proficiency test is a prerequisite to obtaining Italian citizenship, which was needed by the Barcelona star to facilitate his transfer to Juventus. The Bianconeri needed him to be an EU citizen as they had already covered all their slots available for non-EU players.
Hence, Juventus reportedly arranged for Suarez to swiftly obtain Italian citizenship as one of his grandparents was born in the Region of Friuli – much to the dismay of many regular foreign citizens, it must be said, who need to go through a much longer and cumbersome process to get an Italian passport.
But, Suarez seemed to only barely speak the language of Dante: “He cannot conjugate verbs…he can only use the infinitive” were some of the comments about Suarez’s proficiency as captured by the wiretapping used during the investigation.
The police are currently investigating part of the board of the University for Foreigners of Perugia, where the exam took place, including the dean and the general director. Suarez is not reported as being investigated at the moment as he was allegedly not involved in the fraud.
The University stated that the examination process was correct and transparent and that their correctness will emerge at the end of the investigation. The wiretapping, however, seems to leave little space for imagination.
In a conversation reported by Italian sports newspapers Gazzetta dello Sport and Corriere dello Sport, two faculty members who were involved in the exam discussed Suarez’s situation the day before the test:
“So, about tomorrow, you have a big responsibility because if you flunk him we’re going to get some terrorist attacks,” one person said, hopefully not meaning that literally, but just to convey the kind of pressure they must have faced.
“Do you really think we would flunk him? I spoke to L.R. [another faculty member] today, who made a simulation of the exam with him, and we agreed how the exam will be done,” the answer was. “I have my last lesson with him today and I have to prepare it because the guy can’t speak a word.”
The first person went on to ask: “So what level should this guy pass…B1?” and was promptly corrected by the other: “Not should, he must, he will pass it because with a €10M salary you cannot make the deal fall through because he doesn’t have a B1.”
Despite passing the exam, Luis Suarez has not obtained his Italian citizenship yet as the process requires more time – which made Juventus give up on the idea of signing him, at least for the time being, and rather look at the return of Alvaro Morata to bolster their attack.
But, as it looks, it may take more time before Luis Suarez can call himself an Italian. And, well, perhaps he may use this time to study the language a bit.