Today, in all probability, the investigating judge of Cremona Guido Salvini will decide whether to release the players arrested last Monday as part of the investigation into football betting. Among others, the captain of Lazio and the player of Genoa Omar Milanetto are still in prison whose versions do not seem to have completely convinced the Cremonese investigators. Mauri, who is studying the extensive documentation of the investigation in his cell, has essentially declared himself extraneous to the match-fixing of Lazio-Genoa and Lecce-Lazio which are contested against him. Meanwhile, investigations and interrogations continue, around three particularly thorny cases.
BUFFON – “There is no element to suggest that Buffon could be involved in the investigation. Nothing has been notified to us and I don't see why it should arrive. They are the words of Marco Valerio Corini, lawyer of the Juventus goalkeeper and of the national team. But Buffon's situation remains somewhat dubious, considering that the Public Prosecutor's Office of Turin, which sent Cremona a report certifying checks for over 1,5 million euros paid by the goalkeeper to a tobacconist's shop in Parma (enabled to book bets) in course of 2010, does not seem to be of the same opinion. “This office – writes the substitute prosecutor of Turin, Giorgio Parodi, to colleagues from Cremona – has ongoing investigations in this regard relating to large sums of money that Buffon himself would have used for bets presented using third parties”. The lawyer of the blue number 1 argues that it is money intended for the purchase of Rolex watches, but this circumstance only results from the reason for a 300 thousand euro bank transfer dated 10 September 2010. However, there is strong suspicion for all the previous payments that they were intended for play. The truth will be all in the receipts: of this the is certain Guardia di Finanza of Parma which he seized in the search at the tobacconist-receptionist owned by Massimo Alfieri, the matrices of all the plays of 2010. "The search in the tobacconist's shop in Parma does not concern Buffon", Corini continued to clarify, adding: "Gigi is highly motivated and wants to make a great European Championship".
BONUCCI – Another very thorny case is that of the blue defender Leonardo Bonucci, under investigation since 3 May but who, unlike his colleague Criscito, was "pardoned" by Prandelli and equally called up for the European Championships in Poland and Ukraine. The position of the Juventus centre-back with respect to the investigation into football betting is actually identical, but could be even worse, to that of Criscito. The search of the room following the guarantee notice delivered to the former Genoa defender had to be carried out also for Bonucci, accused by the former partner at the time of Bari Andrea Masiello, in particular for the Udinese-Bari match of the 2009-10 season. However, the decision of the Cremona Di Martino prosecutor to transfer the jurisdiction to his colleagues in Bari has delayed everything, but the search will take place.
SCULLI - The most controversial character of this phase of the investigation, for which however the request for pre-trial detention was strangely rejected by the magistrate, is certainly the Genoa footballer Giuseppe Sculli. His figure is in fact dangerously intertwined with the ultras world, with exponents of the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta and consequently, a more relevant aspect for the purposes of the investigation, with the Slavic crime of Genoa, which through the reference character, the "gypsy" Safet Altic , and on behalf of the southern clans, would have their hands on a ring of the underworld closely linked with the mafia and ultras who allegedly managed illegal bets in the contested seasons, in Italy and in Europe. “We are deepening the discussion on the Genoa derby. I won't tell you anything else..." Prosecutor Di Martino's sentence (referring to last season's Genoa-Sampdoria derby, won 2-1 by the rossoblùs) has opened up a new front in recent days, parallel to the investigation that last Monday also led to the arrest of Mauri and Milanetto, which would therefore go far beyond the well-known Lazio-Genoa and Lecce-Lazio matches, reserving surprises and "sudden developments", as the investigating judge Salvini defined them. Sculli's role in this affair is extremely disturbing: hoisted to the status of hero for having "convinced" his fans to desist from the request to have their teammates take their shirts off during Genoa-Siena, and even praised on live TV by the president of the Federcalcio Abete, Sculli a few hours after that fact was on the phone with the same ultras (first Cobretti and then Leopizzi), thanking them and shooting zero on the team ("if you want to fuck their ass, I'll open the doors"). Sculli himself then calls his "brother" Altic, guides him on the telephone in the streets of Milan (as far as via Montenapoleone) to meet a trusted person and the same evening sends him to Kaladze, "ready to pay him 50 thousand euros" for the purchase of "doors". The same Sculli who often lends his 6 horsepower Audi RS650 to Altic, talks to him about money for "insurance", to buy "watches", or has fun on the phone gossiping about Luca Toni and planning what appears to be extortion .
FEDERAL PROSECUTOR - Meanwhile, the sporting trial has begun in Rome, conducted by the FIGC prosecutor Stefano Palazzi, and which involves following the documents transmitted by the Cremona prosecutor's office and in part from the Bari documentation (the Neapolitan file will also arrive shortly, where the as soon as the investigations that would bring Napoli into play), 14 football clubs and 39 members, for a total (so far) of 81 penalty points and a 340.200 euro fine requested for clubs, and 137 years and 9 months for players and managers (for some even expulsion).
THE PENALTIES REQUESTS- As regards the Novara, just relegated to Serie B, Palazzi has asked for 6 penalty points to be served according to the principle of afflictivity (ie it is still to be established whether in the last or in the next championship). Same principle applied to Pescara, newly promoted to Serie A, for which a 2-point penalty was requested. Fifty thousand euro fine for the Sampdoria, for the strict liability of the illegal activity committed by Cristian Bertani. Same number for the Siena for the objective responsibility of the illicit activity committed by Filippo Carobbio. Among other requests, even 27 penalty points for AlbinoLeffe (with a fine of 90 euros). So 10 for Ancona, 19 for Piacenza with a 70 euro fine. One penalty point for Empoli and 6 for Monza with exclusion from the Italian Cup. There are 2 requests for Padova, 1 for Ravenna and 6 for Reggina (5 for strict liability for Rosati and 1 for presumed liability for Tamburini).
THE FIRST JUDGMENTS - Here are the first, main sentences issued following last Thursday's settlements: another two years of disqualification for Cristiano Doni, twenty months each to Carlo Gervasoni, Kewullay Conteh and Filippo Carobbio, six penalty points and a 40 thousand euro fine for Grosseto in the next Serie B championship, two point penalty for Modena in Serie B, 1 point and 20 thousand penalty euro fine for Ascoli in Serie B, a penalty point and a 30 euro fine for Cremonese in Lega Pro first division next season, 1 penalty point for Frosinone in Lega Pro and a fine of 15 euro for the Leghorn.
