Capello faces Italian investigation

The England head coach, Fabio Capello, is to be investigated for allegedly withholding evidence in a trial linked to Italy’s 2006 Calciopoli match-fixing scandal.After giving evidence to a Rome court yesterday Capello, who was the coach of Juventus at the time the scandal erupted, was criticised by the state prosecutor, Luca Palamara, for hiding behind “I don’t remembers” and “I don’t knows”.

Palamara intends to bring a case against Capello, who was being questioned in the trial of six men accused of promoting unfair competition through the use of threats or violence on behalf of Italy’s formerly all-powerful players’ agency Gea World. Under Italian law a person found guilty of withholding information in court can be jailed for up to six years. In London a Football Association spokesman said: “It is a private matter and the FA have no comment to make.”

Italy’s Calciopoli scandal revolved around accusations that the then Juventus general manager, Luciano Moggi, headed a powerful network of allies that pressured referees into giving favourable decisions on the pitch. Off the pitch the Italian court is now hearing evidence that Gea World, run by Moggi’s son Alessandro, bullied players into signing for the agency and then pressured them into signing contracts against their will. Both Moggis are in the dock, as well as Davide Lippi, son of the former Italy coach Marcello.

Questions put to Capello yesterday centred on his time as the coach of Roma from 1999 to 2004, particularly in light of an interview he gave in 2002 criticising Gea World for monopolising Italian football. But the England head coach told the court: “I know nothing about Gea or another agent pressuring players into going to a particular team,” adding: “I was never put under pressure to buy a Gea player,” and: “I have never heard of Alessandro Moggi threatening players.”

Capello’s lawyers said in a statement that they were “confident” the matter would soon be resolved. “At the end of the hearing this morning Mr Capello was certain that in his capacity as a witness he had given all the information required of him to the prosecutor and the court,” they said in a statement.

Prosecutors are seeking to prove that Gea steered young players into the orbit of Juventus, then moved them on when it suited the Turin team.

The former Roma coach Zdenek Zeman described to the court the grip held by Gea on Serie A through its handling of dozens of players. “Alessandro Moggi went around with a list of players and said to the various teams: ‘You buy this one and you buy that one.’”

It is Capello’s second run-in with the Italian authorities since taking the England job. In January it was announced that he faces an investigation by tax authorities over an alleged failure to declare up to £7.4m in income earned through sponsorship deals.

Also in the witness box in Rome yesterday was Capello’s assistant coach with England, Franco Baldini, who worked in a similar role under Capello at Roma.

While Capello denied noticing the effects of the “Moggi system” Baldini was more forthcoming, describing the Moggis as a father-and-son team that used Gea World as a weapon to bolster Juventus’s standing in Serie A.

“Luciano Moggi was the point of reference for Gea,” he said, recalling a dinner at which Moggi admonished him for not allowing Gea to make approaches to Roma youth team players. “You need to give us a hand,” Baldini quoted Moggi as saying. “One year you are working here, the next year you are working somewhere else and the year after that you are not working at all.” Proceedings were halted during Baldini’s deposition after Moggi was reported making “a gesture” at him across the court room.

Luciano Moggi was banned from football for five years in a sporting inquiry into his behind-the-scenes deal to appoint friendly referees for selected matches. Juventus, with Capello at the helm, were relegated and stripped of their 2005 and 2006 league championships during the scandal, at which point Capello moved to Real Madrid.

The Guardian

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