Juve trial, prosecutor Santoriello shouldn’t be in the courtroom after the sentences in the video

The whispers all go in one direction. On 27 March, in the preliminary hearing before the investigating judge Marco Picco who will have to decide on the indictment of 12 now former Juventus managers (and the company for administrative liability), including the president until last November Andrea Agnelli, the prosecutor Ciro Santoriello won’t be there. And not because a provision will prohibit it but simply for reasons of opportunity. The sentences of 2019 under the banner of “supporting Naples and I hate Juve” pronounced in a conference do not invalidate, this is the conviction of the public prosecutor’s office, the correctness and legitimacy of the investigation (even if Juve could ask for the “remission “), but it is clear that an embarrassing situation on a football issue, traditionally very flammable material, could be avoided. On the other hand, there are three prosecutors in the Prisma investigation and therefore the prosecution to argue the request for indictment and therefore the criminal trial will be exercised by Mario Bendoni and Marco Gianoglio. The first is also a football fan and a decent player who is part of the Turin prosecutor’s team.

PREVIOUS

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It is therefore probable that Santoriello will not appear at the hearing even if neither the prosecutor nor the head of the prosecutor’s office have wanted to issue statements so far. Naturally, the right of even a magistrate to be able to have a favorite team is not in question. The problem is the language and words used. But someone remembers another speech by a declared supporter of Napoli, the prosecutor of the republic of Perugia (and in the past number 1 of the anti-corruption Authority) Raffaele Cantone, who moreover had dealings with Juve at the time of the exam Suarez. We were in 2018. Cantone participated in a conference at the Suor Orsola Benincasa University on “football championship and the rule of law”. And he extended an invitation to lower his tone and take football above all as a game: “I’m a fan of Napoli and a lover of this beautiful city. I don’t like playing with other teams, I wasn’t happy when Juventus conceded against last minute against Real Madrid. I’m a fan of Italian teams when they play in the cup, I like football in general.” Tones and words decidedly different from those used by Santoriello.

CRIMES

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But let’s go back to the “Prisma” investigation. The Turin Public Prosecutor charges crimes of false company communications, impeding the exercise of the functions of the public supervisory authorities, market manipulation and fraudulent declaration through the use of invoices or other documents for non-existent transactions. The Gup’s decision will come before the pronouncement of the guarantee college at Coni on the shock sentence of minus 15 decided by the Federal Court of Appeal. The two justices, the ordinary one and the sports one, are autonomous. So much so that the heart of the sporting sentence concerns “disloyalty”. But it is inevitable that the two “games” will communicate in some way and the resolution of the indictment/non-proceeding dilemma will somehow also bounce on the table of the “Cassation of sports” of the Guarantee College.