When the ball restarted to roll in Serie A, it seemed like curtains were down on the dodgy story of the Luis Suarez “passport – gate,” with Juventus allegedly trying to influence and speed up the releasing of an Italian citizenship document for the Uruguayan star to complete his transfer from Barcelona to the Bianconeri.
Suarez needed to obtain a certification of Italian language proficiency as part of the citizenship requirements. Juventus allegedly activated themselves to setup and influence an ad-hoc exam session for him at the University for Foreigners in Perugia.
Suarez did pass the exam but an independent investigation from the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Perugia (the Procura) – who were investigating the Umbrian university for other non-related irregularities – found out that the exam had been altered and facilitated for the Uruguayan, who barely spoke Italian.
As Juventus eventually dropped the idea of signing Suarez, this story fell off the radar of mainstream football news. But the Procura of Perugia kept working and have now come to their initial conclusions.
As the Procura completed their preliminary investigation, Juventus sporting director Fabio Paratici, as well as two Juventus lawyers who were involved in the process, were notified with an official notice of investigation.
They now risk being charged with “false statement” as they all stated they had had no intervention in the process when interrogated on the matter. The Procura, however, came to a different conclusion. In their words, “Juventus maneuvered at the highest institutional levels to speed up the obtainment of the citizenship.”
Given that a false statement charge would have no consequences on Juventus when it comes to sports, before looking at what the Bianconeri and Paratici may actually risk, let’s refresh what happened in this past, hot, transfer market summer.
Juventus accused of 'accelerating' process by which Suárez got passport https://t.co/luGYS3hU9z
— Guardian sport (@guardian_sport) December 4, 2020
At the beginning of September, Juventus needed a new striker. Luis Suarez had just broken up with Barcelona and seemed to fit the bill. But the Uruguayan is a non-EU player and Juventus had just filled their non-EU available slots with Arthur and Weston McKennie.
Suarez thus needed an Italian passport, for which incidentally there was already an open procedure as his wife is of Italian heritage. But there was little time and things needed to be sped up a bit.
Fabio Paratici grabbed the phone and called a childhood friend of his, who happened to be the Minister for Infrastructures and Transports Paola De Micheli: “What is the process for obtaining an Italian citizenship?”
The Minister addressed Paratici to the right department and the Juventus management were informed about the need for an Italian language proficiency certificate. There is nothing necessarily wrong with the process, but the Juventus sporting director stated he had not been involved.
From then on, the ball was passed to Juventus lawyers, who interacted with the University for Foreigners of Perugia to organize the exam session for Suarez. According to the investigation results, “the content of the exam was communicated to the player before the test and the test grade was already assigned upfront, in order to cope with Juventus’ requests and with the goal of earning the University a positive image return.”
In view of the above, the dean and the director of the faculty, as well as the professors who were involved in the test, were suspended from service for eight months. But it remains to be seen how much of the exam happened on the University’s initiative and how much was actually influenced by Juventus.
Suarez case: what are Juventus risking? It could be a violation of article 32 and the risk range from a fine to relegation (but this last hypothesis is very remote). It's anyway very early to understand what will happen. @Corriere pic.twitter.com/o9rnaOxoGa
— Around Turin (@AroundTurin) December 4, 2020
The details of Luis Suarez’s farcical Italian exam were uncovered by some wiretapping that painted a grotesque picture.
It all started with an ambiguous conversation between a Juventus lawyer and the faculty general director, with the Bianconeri asking for an ad-hoc exam session for Suarez and recommending that “we need to give him something…for a beginner” (though the required proficiency level is a B1 – Intermediate) while maintaining at the same time that “there should not be any favoritism” and promising that “in the future, we will come to you again if we have similar situations.”
Another wiretapping revealed the frantic efforts made to teach Suarez a few words in Italian by the professor tasked to prepare him for the exam. She confessed to a friend that “we made a simulation of the exam and basically gave him a copy of the test, which should be a surprise (…) because, obviously, we have to make him pass for a B1” adding that he provided Suarez with a copy of the test and asked him to study it, receiving reassurance from the Uruguayan that he would study it while on his way to Perugia (!)
Of course, there were some concerns from multiple parts about the farce possibly being uncovered. The professor who did the exam wanted some reassurances: “I spoke with Juve about that, because if somebody starts investigating…I’m the one who certificates the exam…So I spoke to the dean and to Paratici, and basically they told me not to worry, Suarez will not make any interview in Italian…Because I talked to him, he does speak a few words but he is between A1 and A2. He’s not a B1.”
The rest of the story is known. On September 17, Luis Suarez traveled to Perugia and promptly obtained his B1 certification. Despite the certificate, however, the procedure for obtaining citizenship was still taking more time than expected.
Juventus thus changed direction and ended up signing Alvaro Morata to reinforce their attack, while Suarez moved to Atletico Madrid. Perhaps the Bianconeri had felt what was coming as soon enough the Procura of Perugia raised doubts about the legitimacy of the exam and started their investigation.
So what do Juventus risk, now that the preliminary investigations were concluded?
The “false statement” crime for which Fabio Paratici and the Juventus staff may be charged is a criminal offense. In the worst-case scenario, it could be punished with one to six years of reclusion but technically has no direct impact on the club’s sport situation.
However, the outcome of a penal trial could be different from that of a sports trial. The Prosecution Office of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) is reportedly looking at opening their own investigation based on the conclusion of the Procura of Perugia.
According to the Italian sports law, Paratici could be prosecuted for violating the Federation’s Code for Sports Conduct by trying to introduce in Italy non-EU players as he maneuvered to obtain “false or altered documents of citizenship.” The FIGC has been extremely sensitive on the matter since a false passports scandals emerged in 2001 and resulted in several Serie A clubs being sanctioned, and multiple players banned.
Statement from the Clubhttps://t.co/S8PBH5RDix pic.twitter.com/jMfOMOOs9h
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) December 4, 2020
If Paratici ends up being charged, the next step would be determining whether Juventus had any responsibility – direct or indirect – in the matter. At that point, the sanctions for the club could range from a fine – which looks like the most likely scenario – to a point deduction, to even a relegation (this one being an extremely remote hypothesis, though).
Juventus released an official statement to defend their sporting director, highlighting that they “strongly reiterate that Paratici acted correctly and trust that the ongoing investigations will contribute to clear his position within a reasonable time.” When asked by the press to comment on the matter, Fabio Paratici said he is not worried and that he doesn’t see anything wrong in asking some information to a childhood friend.
But the matter of the Luis Suarez passport-gate seems far from over and more is expected to come in the coming weeks, as Juventus fans must be bitterly asking themselves how on heart the club got entangled in an issue that could get them punished for a player that they didn’t even end up buying.
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