Juventus have made a plea bargain worth £240,000 to end the second wave of the Calciopoli trial. “But it is not an admission of guilt.”
The original trial in the summer of 2006 saw the club demoted to Serie B and stripped of two Scudetti after telephone wiretaps discovered director general Luciano Moggi attempting to influence referees.
The second wave of investigations is on-going, but in order to cut short a potentially lengthy legal process, Juve have agreed to pay £240,000 to the Federation.
It will go into the FIGC’s youth and education programmes and in trial terms is split into £80,000 for each year under investigation.
“It is not an admission of guilt, but rather an act of generosity,” insisted Juve lawyer Franzo Grande Stevens.
As part of the same investigation, the FIGC Disciplinary Commission has also handed fines to the other sides involved.
Messina must pay £48,000 with a six-month ban for President Pietro Franza and former director Mario Bonsignore.
Former referee Romeo Paparesta is suspended for 20 minutes and Gianluca Paparesta, who has recently finished a long ban from the 2006 trial, has a two-month suspension with four educational events as civil service.
The trial does continue for others, though, as Moggi, former Messina director Mariano Fabiani and referees Tiziano Pieri, Salvatore Racalbuto, Stefano Cassarà, Antonio Dattilo, Paolo Bertini, Marco Gabriele, Massimo De Santis and Marcello Ambrosino saw their cases adjourned.
