According to reports in the Italian press, the pre-trial judgeship in Rome accepted the request for trial against De Laurentiis, the president of Napoli, one of the Italian First Football League (Serie A) teams, and Andrea Chiavelli, who is described as his “right hand” in the club, on the grounds that they committed financial irregularities in the club’s balance sheet for 2019, 2020 and 2021.
Speaking to the press, De Laurentiis’s lawyers, Gaetano Scalise, Fabio Fulgeri and Lorenzo Contrada, said that they were astonished by the pre-trial judge’s decision to refer the court to trial.
The Italian ANSA agency also reported that the first hearing of the case in which De Laurentiis and Chiavelli will be tried will be held on December 2, 2026.
It was stated that two football player transfers stood out at the center of the financial irregularity allegations that led to De Laurentiis’ trial. These transfers; It was stated that the Greek defender Kostas Manolas, whom Napoli acquired from Rome in 2019, and the Nigerian forward Victor Osimhen, who was transferred from the French Lille Club in 2020, were the ones that Napoli acquired.
In its request for trial in February, the Rome Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office included allegations that the transfers in question may have been fictitious capital gains during the club’s recording of the financial statements.